India’s Shardul Thakur and West Indies’ Shirvan Rutherford have joined Mumbai Indians (MI) in the trading window ahead of IPL 2026.
ESPNcricinfo has learned that MI have reached an agreement in principle with Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) to acquire Thakur in an all-cash trade, for INR 2 crore. MI acquired Rutherford from Gujarat Titans (GT) for INR 2.6 crore, the same amount for which GT bought him in the last auction.
Thakur could now become a quiz question as this is the third trade he has been involved in in the IPL; In 2017, Rising Pune Supergiant bought him from Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings), and before the 2023 season, Kolkata Knight Riders bought him from Delhi Capitals. Both trades were also all-cash trades.
Thakur, who was unsold in the 2025 mega-auction and was due to join Essex in the County Championship, has been named by LSG as a replacement for Mohsin Khan at his starting price of INR 2 crore. It looked like a good investment on the part of LSG’s mentor at the time, Zaheer Khan, as he took six wickets in his first two matches in IPL 2025. However, Thakur struggled after that, playing just ten matches and taking 13 wickets at an economy rate of 11.02.
The move to MI is a homecoming of sorts for Thakur. He was a support player for MI from 2010 to 2012 and was also named captain of Mumbai in domestic cricket for the season.
Rutherford is now heading to his fourth IPL side, after representing Delhi Capitals (2019), RCB (2022) and GT last season. He was also part of MI in 2020 and KKR in 2024, but did not feature in any matches in those seasons. He played 13 matches for GT earlier this season, for 291 runs at an average of 32.22 and a strike rate of 157.29.
MI are set to release Arjun Tendulkar to LSG
MI and LSG have also agreed on a separate trade deal involving Arjun Tendulkar, who has been playing for MI since IPL 2023. It is learned that the left-arm fast bowler, who was bought by MI for INR 30 lakh last year, has been traded to LSG. It is also learned that MI has decided to release Tendulkar so that he can get more playing opportunities at LSG.
Tendulkar was first bought by MI in the 2021 auction for INR 20 lakh and made his debut in the 2023 edition, when he played four league matches. Overall, he has appeared in five IPL matches for three wickets at an economy rate of 9.36. He started on the domestic circuit with his T20 debut for Mumbai in early 2021 before moving to Goa ahead of the 2022-23 season, when he made his first-class and one-day debut.
