Mayank Markande of Kolkata Knight Riders before the IPL 2025 match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Chennai Super Kings at Eden Gardens on May 7, 2025 in Kolkata, India. (Photo by Prakash Singh/Getty Images) NEW DELHI: Two days before the end of the Indian Premier League (IPL) retention period, Mumbai Indians (MI) activity has picked up. The five-time title winners have approached Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) for leg-spinner Mayank Markande and it is reliably learned that talks have reached the final stage. If all goes well, the deal could be announced soon and the 28-year-old will be back with the franchise where he started his IPL journey in 2018.It is not confirmed at this stage whether another player is involved in the deal as insiders believe it could be a cash transaction. KKR bought the arm spinner for ₹30 lakh in last year’s mega auction but did not give him a single match in the entire season.
RCB IPL 2026 Trades, Retains, Releases and Updates Squad: Why Virat Kohli is the BIGGEST Deal
MI have two wrist spinners – Vignesh Puthur (China) and Karn Sharma – and Markande’s inclusion gives them more options in the spin department. Markande had a great debut season for MI, picking up 15 wickets in 14 matches and went on to make his India debut less than a year after the IPL.He only played one T20I for India before things went south and didn’t get enough game time in the cash-rich league. In the next five years, even though he joined two different teams, Markande could only play 23 games.However, Markande is not the only foot on MI’s radar. It is understood that there was or still is some interest in Rahul Chahar, but it cannot be confirmed whether that interest has materialized into any involvement with Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Vote
Do you think Mayank Markande will make an impressive comeback for Mumbai Indians?
The SRH camp was unconvinced with Chahar last season and played only one game with him, even after picking him up for Rs 3.20 crore in the mega auction. In the matches inside the team, the SRH management found Chahar way off the mark and was happy to keep him on the bench.MI’s interest in Chahar is again not a surprise as he too had a successful stint with the franchise.
