Mumbai Indians Drop Worrying Update On Will Jacks For IPL 2026

Will Jacks and Hardik Pandya [Source: AFP]

The Mumbai Indians squad dealt a big blow on Tuesday with the recent update coach Mahela Jayawardene shared. The star all-rounder of England, Will Jacks, is yet to arrive at the MI camp as the team is currently in tatters in IPL 2026.

After a rain interrupted 11 over Guwahati game against the Rajasthan Royals, the Mumbai Indians felt the lack of the lower middle order hitting in the absence of Will Jacks. Unfortunately, the place remains vacant, given the availability of the all-rounder.

Will Jacks availability for Mumbai Indians revealed

Ahead of the tournament opener against the Kolkata Knight Riders on March 29, Mitchell Santner and Jacks missed out on arriving in the country. Now, considered one of the X factors of the squad, Jacks still misses out while the other foreign stars have joined the MI camp.

As Mumbai struggled to chase 151 against a destructive Rajasthan at their home ground, Jack's addition could have somewhat tilted the odds in MI’s favour, given his experience in the T20I format and power-hitting ability.

MI coach confirms Will Jacks availability for IPL 2026

Nevertheless, Jacks will still take time to join the squad. In a recent media interaction, MI head coach Mahela Jayawardene shared that Jacks is yet to arrive at the camp, and the unit is hopeful that he will join soon.

"Will still hasn't joined the squad. We are hoping he will join pretty soon," the head coach said after the game on Tuesday.

Notably, the Hardik Pandya-led team has four days before their next game. A mega battle awaits as MI is set to face RCB for the first time in the tournament on April 12 at Wankhede.

With 4 days at their expense, Will Jacks might arrive in time, although his participation immediately against RCB is doubtful. Upon arrival, Jacks is expected to spend some time resting and warming up in the Mumbai Indians camp ahead of jumping into an all-important match.

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Solid form of Jacks ahead of IPL 2026

Will brings in a horde of experience with him, along with solid form by his side. The English all-rounder, with the bat, has impressed in the T20 World Cup 2026 by averaging at 56.50 from 8 matches. Interestingly, he also boasts a strike rate of 176.56 in the tournament, underlining his hitting prowess.

With the ball too, Jack’s contribution has been equally brilliant. The right-arm off-spinner has taken 9 wickets in the tournament while being economically sound for his team. Moreover, in T20Is in 2026, he averages 45.80 with the bat while scalping 11 wickets at an economy rate of 8.32.

How Jacks will strengthen MI’s spin department?

Hence, the addition of Jacks to the Mumbai Indians squad might work wonders for a team that has struggled so far in the spin department. Mayank Markande, AM Ghazanfar and Mitchell Santner have been deployed so far in the three matches.

Across 12 overs, in IPL 2026, the spinners have shared 130 runs between them while having only 3 wickets.

Will Jacks will likely replace AM Ghazanfar in the Playing XI upon his arrival, or any other pace options like Deepak Chahar, that MI is currently fielding due to track behaviour in various stadiums.

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