When it comes to trade deals in the IPL, the biggest one so far has been Mumbai Indians’ deal to seal Hardik Pandya back to their franchise in 2023 from Gujarat Titans.
That Rs 17 crore deal caused quite some controversy, especially after Hardik was immediately named franchise captain in place of Rohit Sharma. Two years after this deal, Mumbai Indians are now plotting two major trade deals to bring back two of their former players. In fact, they have reportedly already sealed one former MI player in the form of Shardul Thakur.
MI Plot Mayank Markande Return
According to a report by The Times of India, Mumbai Indians are interested in bringing back Mayank Markande to strenghthen their spin department. They are all set to seal an all-cash trade deal with the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), who bought the leg-spinner for a price of Rs 30 lakh in the IPL 2025 mega auction, but did not play a single game there.
Markande had his breakthrough season in 2018 for MI, where he took 15 wickets, and this is the season that earned him his only international cap in 2019.
Rahul Chahar Back To MI?
Mumbai Indians are also planning for a trade deal to bring back Rahul Chahar from the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), according to the . The leg spinner was an integral part of the MI team that won their last IPL trophy in 2020. However, he will be an expensive option for the five-time champions, as he would cost Rs 3.2 crore.
It remains unclear as to whether MI would opt for Chahar or stick with Markande. The thing that is clear is that MI do want to strneghten their spin department. Vignesh Puthur and Karn Sharma are the two Indian spinners in the lineup, with Mitchell Santner, Allah Ghazanfar and Will Jacks being the overseas options.