As per AI’s predictions, six players will definitely stay with the team for the 2026 season

The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 is nearly six months away, but teams have already begun their preparations, given that the retention deadline is on November 15, followed by the mini auction in December.

While there are rumours about every team and major players, nothing can be confirmed at the moment ahead of the retention deadline and mini-auction. Therefore, we turned to ChatGPT and asked about the Mumbai Indians, one of the most successful franchises in the tourney’s history.

(Credit- India TV News)

We enquired about possible retentions and released players, and here’s the answer ChatGPT provided.

Retentions

ChatGPT is quite certain that players such as Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Verma, and Naman Dhir will be retained by the team. Sharma, Pandya, and Yadav have been with the team for years, and they have saved the team on numerous occasions. Not to forget, the team needs a balance of veterans and youth, and these players are the experienced lot who must stay to guide and mentor the next batch of youngsters.

(Credit- Cricket Addictor)

As for Tilak Verma, he is already proving his worth in the national side, despite being relatively inexperienced, so MI wishes to groom him because he has the potential to be a match-winner for the Mumbai-based franchise. In fact, he has done enough in the IPL and deserves a place.

Naman Dhir is another promising domestic all-rounder who is expected to be developed into an asset for MI.

Possible releases

Moving on to players who are likely to be released, the list comprises Deepak Chahal, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Reece Topley, Jonny Bairstow, Karn Sharma, Raghu Sharma, Vignesh Puthur, and Corbin Bosch.

(Credit- Revsportz)

According to AI, Chahal is a premium bowler; underwhelming returns will show him the exit door, releasing the purse for MI. Rahman has less game time, Topley often gets injured, and Bairstow, although explosive, doesn’t always click. The rest of the players, given their limited playing time, could be released to bring in new players who can be developed to become the core in future editions.

AI's final summary

The AI also gave a final summary that stated, “MI needs to balance retaining core veterans and freeing up purse for targeted buys; the releases above reflect players whose cost-value may be mismatched given the overseas/domestic slots. Overseas slots are especially constrained: retaining too many high-cost overseas players reduce flexibility. Thus, some of the names above are predicted releases from overseas. Domestic youth retention (Varma, Dhir, Ashwani) fits the trend of securing future asset value rather than just past performance.”