Ex-cricketer, Suresh Raina believes that the Mumbai Indians (MI) must release an all-rounder, Will Jacks, before the 2026 Indian Premier League (IPL) auction. It was the five time champions who had bid the Englishman INR 5.25 crore in the mega auction last year after a bidding war with the Punjab Kings (PBKS).
First season with the franchise was mediocre as Will Jacks scored 233 runs in 13 matches with an average of 23.33 and a strike rate of 135.47. The season saw him play in four different positions in the batting side, this is because he was requested to open on two occasions and also batted as low as No.7, soon after.
He was a convenient one with the ball, occasionally acted as the third spinner, particularly when pitting his side against the left-handed batters of the opponent. The England international has received six wickets in the season with the average of 20 and the economy being 8.57.
Nonetheless, Raina believes that, besides Mujeeb-ur-Rahman, Jacks will be one of the players who will be released by MI. Conversely, he said that he will keep the likes of Rohit Sharma, Deepak Chahar, and Trent Boult.
“Will Jacks?” the presenter asked.
“Fold. I think they will release him,” Raina replied.
The former batter made a good argument for the main trio of Rohit Sharma, Trent Boult, and Deepak Chahar, who together account for INR 38.05 crore of the purse.
“They should hold him (Rohit Sharma), he has won a lot of trophies for them. Deepak Chahar is just in, it depends on what options they have, so they can either release him or retain him, but they might not get players at the auction, so I think they should retain him. They should retain him (Trent Boult), he is a gun player, the advantage that he has as a left-arm bowler, they should retain him,” Raina said on Star Sports.
The IPL franchises will reveal the names of their retained players by the deadline of Saturday, November 15. The IPL mini-auction is allegedly set to take place next month as teams decide their squads for the upcoming season.
Will Jacks to feature in 2025-26 Ashes series amid IPL 2026 auction buzz
The all-rounder came as an unexpected inclusion to the England team to play the upcoming Ashes series in 2025-26 in Australia. He is the second spinner in the squad, and Shoaib Bashir, who replaced Liam Dawson and Rehan Ahmed.
He was absent in the white-ball series just completed in New Zealand through a broken finger, although is likely to be fit to play in the first Test, starting on November 21 at Optus Stadium in Perth.
