Former all-rounder Irfan Pathan left out pacer Deepak Chahar when selecting his Mumbai Indians (MI) playing XII following the IPL 2026 auction on Tuesday, December 16, in Abu Dhabi. The five-time IPL champions had a limited auction, obtaining only five players, including one international addition, Quinton de Kock, who was purchased at a base price of ₹1 crore.
In a video posted on his YouTube page on December 17, the 41-year-old named experienced Rohit Sharma and de Kock as his favorite openers, passing over Ryan Rickelton, who had opened for MI in the 2025 season. He shared:
“When you go into an auction and, like a cool cat, still manage to buy Quinton de Kock at base price, it means you are Mumbai. They do wonders at auctions, and once again we saw that kind of brilliance this time. I feel there was also a bit of a luck factor behind the Quinton de Kock buy, because they haven’t lifted the trophy in some time. They want to win the trophy with such a strong team and also bring in a bit of luck along with it.”
Tilak Varma was given the third spot in the middle order, followed by Suryakumar Yadav, India’s T20I captain, at number four. Mumbai’s skipper Hardik Pandya and uncapped all-rounder Naman Dhir were assigned to the following two positions.
The franchise purchased West Indies’ Sherfane Rutherford from Gujarat Titans (GT) for ₹2.6 crore ahead of the IPL 2026 auction.
Veteran India all-rounder picked ahead of Deepak Chahar in Irfan Pathan’s MI XI
In the bowling department, Irfan Pathan placed all-rounder Shardul Thakur at No. 8. The squad acquired Thakur from Rishabh Pant’s Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) for ₹2 crore prior to the 2026 auction. He chose leg-spinner Mayank Markande, who was traded from Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) for ₹30 lakh.
Pathan chose Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult for his final XI, thereby leaving out Deepak Chahar, who went for ₹9.25 crore in the 2025 mega auction. Meanwhile, for the Impact Player role, Pathan suggested Corbin Bosch, Mitchell Santner or Allah Ghazanfar, depending on the pitch conditions.
Irfan Pathan’s MI playing XII for IPL 2026: Rohit Sharma, Quinton de Kock, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Naman Dhir, Sherfane Rutherford, Shardul Thakur, Mayank Markande, Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult. Impact Player options: Mitchell Santner, Corbin Bosch, Allah Ghazanfar.
