The Mumbai Indians (MI) had a decent outing in the IPL 2025 season, where they started slow and then picked up the pace under the captaincy of Hardik Pandya.

After winning just 1 of their first 5 games, the Mumbai Indians (MI) went on to claim 7 wins out of 9 games and qualified for the playoffs.

Unfortunately, they bowed out in Qualifier 02 against the Punjab Kings and narrowly missed their spot in the finals.

Several reports suggest that the Mumbai Indians are set to release several senior and underperforming players to free up money in the purse for the IPL 2026 auction and make way for fresh talent.

The event is likely to be held in the January-February window ahead of the IPL 2026 tournament, which usually follows the March-May window.

According to IPL 2026 auction rules, there are no restrictions on the number of players who can be released or retained.

In addition to the purse remaining from the previous auction and the value of the players they release, teams will likely to have a total purse value of INR 151 crore for the upcoming season.

Listed below are the list to MI players likely to be released.

• Robin Minz
• Karn sharma
• Mujeb ur rahman
• Reece Topley
• Lizaad Williams

Robin Minz

Robin Minz who joined Mumbai Indians for INR 65 lakhs in the 2025 mega auction, did not do much in limited opportunities scoring just 6 runs in 2 games of the IPL 2025 season.

Mumbai Indians might reconsider for releasing him before the IPL 2026 auction to free up a slot for a more reliable wicket-keeper batter as he appeared unprepared for the IPL level.

Reece Topley

Pacer Reece Topley who joined Mumbai Indians (MI) for INR 75 lakhs during the IPL 2025 mega auction has played one match in the previous edition against Punjab Kings in Qualifier 02 where he conceded 40 runs in three overs.

The franchise prefered Richard Gleeson over him and are likely to release him and look for better alternatives.

On the Ghanzanfar

Allah Mohammad Ghazanfar who was given INR 4.8 crore at the auction, but injury ruled him out. With Mumbai Indians has Mitchell Santner has already proven that he is more than good enough with both bat and ball and likely to release Ghazanfar.

Mujeb ur rahman

Mujeeb Ur Rahman who joined Mumbai Indians (MI) INR 2 crore as a replacement for Allah Ghazanfar, who was ruled out of the IPL 2025 season due to an injury. However, Mujeeb didn’t fit in MI’s playing Xl and played only one match and conceded 28 runs off two overs.

Mujeeb has represented multiple teams, has played 20 IPL matches and has picked 20 wickets against his name with an economy rate of 8.34 so far.

Lizaad Williams

South Africa’s Lizaad Williams did not feature in a single game and hence releasing him getting 75 lakh in the purse ahead of the IPL 2026 auction.

Listed below are the best possible retained players for MI.

• Hardik Pandya
• Rohit Sharma
• Suryakumar Yadav
• Jasprit bumrah
• Ryan Rickelton
• Will Jacks
• Trent Boult
• Naman Naman
• Mitchell Santner
• Deepak chahar
• Tilak sure

According to BCCI guidelines, the mini auction will take place in the January-February Window following the player trade window in December-January.

Although the exact date of the auction is yet to be disclosed, several sources have hinted that the IPL 2026 auction dates will be announced very soon.

This mini auction for IPL 2026 will allow franchises to target their required players for completing their squad after the pre-auction trade window.