An eye-soothing sight for Mumbai Indians fans ahead of the IPL 2026 season. Their new recruit Sherfane Rutherford was in terrific form during the New Zealand vs. West Indies (NZ vs. WI) 1st ODI at the Hagley Oval. For the West Indies, Rutherford appeared as the highest-scoring individual. 

The West Indies won the toss and decided to field first. The Windies pace bowling attack led by Jayden Seales and Matthew Forde did well by taking some crucial wickets, but it was New Zealand hard hitter Daryl Mitchell who captured the spotlight in the first innings of the game. Mitchell played a 119 off 118 and was named as the best player of the match. With the brilliant hundred, the home team registered 269 in exchange for 7 wickets in 50 overs. 

270 was a chaseable target for the second batting team, which was West Indies. The match was evenly balanced between two teams, as the West Indies batting lineup was performing well, almost equally. In the end, New Zealand won the match by only 7 runs. 

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Watch glimpses of Sherfane Rutherford's batting vs NZ here

Rutherford scored 55(61) vs NZ today

Those who were showing his last 15 innings please come out pic.twitter.com/ifVbsdN1HW

— Mumbai Indians FC (@MIPaltanFamily) November 16, 2025

During the run chase, Sherfane Rutherford walked into the middle as the number 5 batter and scored 55 off 61. He smashed three 4s and three 6s to fight against the NZ bowlers. But that individual knock proved not enough to overcome the hurdle. 

Mumbai Indians squad ahead of IPL 2026 auction: 

Allah Ghazanfar, Ashwani Kumar, Corbin Bosch, Deepak Chahar, Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Mayank Markande (T), Mitchell Santner, Naman Dhir, Raghu Sharma, Raj Angad Bawa, Robin Minz, Rohit Sharma, Ryan Rickelton, Shardul Thakur (T), Sherfane Rutherford (T), Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Verma, Trent Boult, and Will Jacks.

Total spent: INR 122.25
Cap remaining: INR 2.75

While the retention list announcement date (November 15, 2025) is almost close before the IPL 2026 auction, which has been scheduled on December 16, 2025, the IPL franchises have started to announce their trades too. 

IPL 2026: List of traded players

Shardul Thakur (Lucknow Super Giants to Mumbai Indians)

📰 𝗦𝗛𝗔𝗥𝗗𝗨𝗟 𝗧𝗛𝗔𝗞𝗨𝗥 𝗝𝗢𝗜𝗡𝗦 𝗠𝗨𝗠𝗕𝗔𝗜 𝗜𝗡𝗗𝗜𝗔𝗡𝗦 𝗔𝗛𝗘𝗔𝗗 𝗢𝗙 𝗜𝗣𝗟 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲

Read more 👉 https://t.co/bwcjR4dDQs pic.twitter.com/NjvmKRA3NZ

— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) November 13, 2025

Indian right-arm pacer Shardul Thakur has been traded from Lucknow Super Giants to Mumbai Indians. ESPNcricinfo has reported that the trade deal happened via an all-cash. While Thakur remained unsold at the IPL 2025 auction, he joined the LSG as the repalcement for injured Mohsin Khan and started the IPL 2025 journey strongly with six wickets in his first two games of the season. He finished the season as the joint second most wicket-taker for LSG with 13 wickets in 10 games. 

Mumbai Indians are set to become the seventh IPL team for Shardul Thakur, who has recorded 107 wickets in 105 IPL matches. 

See Also: Kolkata Knight Riders rope in former CSK legend as Assisstant Coach for upcoming IPL 2026

Sherfane Rutherford (Gujarat Titans to Mumbai Indians)

📰 𝗦𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗙𝗔𝗡𝗘 𝗥𝗨𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗗 𝗝𝗢𝗜𝗡𝗦 𝗠𝗨𝗠𝗕𝗔𝗜 𝗜𝗡𝗗𝗜𝗔𝗡𝗦

Read more 👉 https://t.co/13g4GNOoRY pic.twitter.com/cKqUu5zlbT

— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) November 13, 2025

Mumbai Indians have also welcomed Caribbean cricketer Sherfane Rutherford, as the 27-year-old middle-order batter has been traded from Gujarat Titans to the five-time IPL champions. Sherfane scored 291 runs in 11 innings with an average of 32.33 and a strike rate of 157.29. He finished the season as the fourth most run-scorer for Titans, however, the franchise has decided to trade him out. 

Sherfane previously served for Delhi Capitals (IPL 2019), Royal Challengers Bangalore (IPL 2022), and Gujarat Titans (IPL 2025), and the Caribbean cricketer is now set to serve for his fourth IPL team as Mumbai Indians have traded him in before the IPL 2026 auction. He has scored 397 runs in 23 IPL matches and also has picked up one wicket.