The Mumbai Indians (MI) are set for a massive shake-up ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2027 campaign after a disastrous season a few months back. The five-time champions finished ninth in the points table with just four wins, leading to intense speculation about their captain, Hardik Pandya, and several other senior players. Hardik Pandya has been the centre of the trade window so far, with multiple franchises expressing their interest in acquiring the star player’s services.
According to a report by the Times of India, although multiple-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) have emerged as front-runners, none of them have been able to strike a deal with MI due to various reasons. MI have not found the trade options that KKR offered to be appealing, which include Cameron Green. Although the INR 25.20 crore-worth star all-rounder has featured and excelled for MI in the past, the franchise has doubts regarding his fitness and availability given Australia’s intense schedule in 2027.
Meanwhile, any offer from CSK will have to wait until they decide on their new head coach after parting ways with Stephen Fleming recently. There is also a possibility that Hardik Pandya might not be traded or released. “Don’t be surprised if he [Hardik Pandya] is not traded at all. Discussions have also happened with the player along these lines. For a trade to happen, multiple things need to fall into place.
It’s not that straightforward, a source told
So it’s not that straightforward,” a source told the Times of India. As far as the captaincy is concerned, MI considered the possibility of going back to their most successful captain, Rohit Sharma. However, the veteran is not interested in taking up the leadership role again, but is involved in the process of choosing Pandya’s successor. Team India stars Suryakumar Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah have led the franchise in the recent past in Hardik Pandya’s absence, but the management is eyeing a long-term appointment in the form of Tilak Varma.
The management has already explored this idea, and it is learnt that former India and MI captain Rohit Sharma is actively involved in discussions about the captaincy and the team’s direction. Returning Rohit to the captaincy was also an option, but a new face is likely as the 39-year-old is not keen to wear the armband again. Tilak Varma and Jasprit Bumrah are two potential options, with the scales tilting in the former’s favour,” the report mentions.
The southpaw is Team India’s T20I vice-captain under Shreyas Iyer and has led Hyderabad before in domestic cricket. He is currently the South Zone team captain in the Duleep Trophy 2026. MI likely to stick with veterans Mahela Jayawardene and Suryakumar Yadav despite poor IPL 2026 campaign MI are not desperate to make wholesale changes across all fronts and are likely to adopt their well-documented ‘One Family’ ethos by backing their head coach Mahela Jayawardene and veteran batter Suryakumar Yadav for the time being.
Yes, he didn’t have a good season last
“Yes, he didn’t have a good season last year, but what about the ones before that? MI will not discard a player based on one season, and that’s not how they operate. They take pride in the ‘One Family’ tag and swear by it,” thee returned as MI head coach, taking over from Mark Boucher after the disastrous 2024 season
The Sri Lankan legend has one more year remaining in his contract, as the next season will also conclude the three-year cycle in the league.
Source: www.sportskeeda.com
