Shardul Thakur, Sherfane Rutherford traded to Mumbai Indians ahead of IPL 2026 auction
Lucknow Super Giants traded Shardul Thakur to the Mumbai Indians, while Sherfane Rutherford also joins MI from Gujarat Titans ahead of IPL 2026 mini-auction.
New Delhi: Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) have traded Shardul Thakur to the Mumbai Indians (MI) in a Rs 2 crore cash deal ahead of IPL 2026 mini-auction. This is the third trade involving Shardul in the IPL.
In 2017, Rising Pune Supergiant (RPSG) bought the all-rounder from Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings), and before the 2023 season, Kolkata Knight Riders secured him from Delhi Capitals. Both trades were also all-cash deals.
Shardul, who went unsold at the 2025 IPL mega auction and was set to join Essex in the County Championship. But he was picked by LSG as a replacement for Mohsin Khan at his base price of Rs 2 crore.
He took six wickets in his first two IPL matches for the Lucknow-based franchise. However, he struggled to pick wickets after that and played only 10 matches, taking 13 wickets at an economy rate of 11.02. The trade to MI is a homecoming for Thakur as he hails from Mumbai and currently leads the state team in domestic cricket.
"Lucknow Super Giants all-rounder, Shardul Thakur, is all set to represent Mumbai Indians, following a trade between the two franchises," said the BCCI in a statement.
Gujarat Titans trade Sherfane Rutherford to Mumbai Indians
Gujarat Titans have traded West Indies all-rounder Sherfane Rutherford to the Mumbai Indians (MI) for Rs 2.6 crore ahead of IPL 2026 mini-auction.
Rutherford has played 23 IPL matches so far and scored 397 runs at a strike rate of 137.37. He has earlier represented the Delhi Capitals in 2019 and the Royal Challengers Bengaluru in 2022. Rutherford was part of the MI squad in 2020 and the Kolkata Knight Riders in 2024, but did not play a single game during those seasons.
According to an ESPNcricinfo report, MI and LSG have also agreed on a separate trade deal for all-rounder Arjun Tendulkar, who has been playing for MI since IPL 2023. He was bought by MI for Rs 30 lakh last year and has been traded to LSG. The Mumbai-based franchise has decided to release Tendulkar so that he can get more playing opportunities at LSG.