A still of Hardik Pandya and Rohit Sharma from IPL 2025. Credit - AFP
As IPL 2026 kicks off on Saturday, the Mumbai Indians will play their opener against the Kolkata Knight Riders this Sunday. The five-time champions have not won the championship since 2020, and to bag a sixth title, they bagged a near-perfect squad for IPL 2026.
However, things are far from smooth in the MI camp as of yet. Days ahead of the IPL 2026, star pacer Jasprit Bumrah had to visit CoE in Bengaluru for his strength and conditioning. Although Bumrah received full clearance to play the entire IPL, dark clouds have emerged over other MI players.
Due to the ongoing war in the Middle East, travel to India has become a hazard for overseas players. The franchises have been arranging private jets to ensure a smooth, hassle-free arrival for their contracted foreign stars after various airbases in the UAE have shut down.
Will Jacks, Mitchell Santner yet to join MI
One day before MI's opener against KKR, a report has emerged about the unavailability of two of their overseas players.
As per Cricbuzz, England's Will Jacks and the New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner are due to join the remaining of the squad. The Kiwi will land in India soon, while the Englishman is likely to arrive in a week due to some personal reasons.
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"(Mitchell) Santner was involved in a series against South Africa that concluded on March 25 and is expected to join the squad in a few days. Jacks, however, may take longer, with the England all-rounder unavailable due to personal reasons and likely to report at least a week later," the Cricbuzz report stated.
The report further stated that the rest of MI players have already joined the squad in Mumbai.
Who will MI play in absence of Will Jacks, Mitchell Santner?
Without the likes of Will Jacks and Mitchell Santner, it may give Captain Hardik Pandya and the team management a headache. Although Santner may have missed in MI’s best playing XI, Will Jacks would have played a key role in bringing the balance as a spin-bowling all-rounder.
However, the two were integral to MI last season, when the joint-most successful IPL franchise was knocked out by Punjab Kings in Qualifier 2.
In the absence of the all-rounders, Sherfane Rutherford, who was traded in from Gujarat, and Corbin Bosch are expected to get slotted in MI’s playing XI against KKR. Moreover, Mumbai can also play a punt by fielding mystery spinner Allah Ghazanfar in their opener.
They are famous for casually playing their first game of the season with rare-known spinners, i.e. Mayank Markande and Vignesh Puthur in recent years.
Where can MI finish this season?
Under Hardik Pandya's leadership, the Mumbai Indians qualified for the playoffs last season but lost to the eventual runners-up in Qualifier 2. However, after many seasons, MI are looking like a team to beat on paper.
They have four of India's members from the 2026 T20 World Cup-winning squad in Hardik Pandya, Suryakumar Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah and Tilak Varma. Meanwhile, they also have a solid head in the form of Rohit Sharma, who was also India's captain during their 2024 T20 WC triumph.
All in all, they have a strong squad that will go long this season, if not win the silverware eventually.
