CSK, Mumbai Indians launch 1st player retention
Table of Contents
The two most successful franchises in the history of the IPL, CSK and the Mumbai Indians, have revealed their first retained player for IPL 2026, and they both belong to the same nation, and it's not India.
Whenever the IPL is talked about, the Chennai Super Kings and the Mumbai Indians are always mentioned. Not only the fact that they have been 5-time champions each, but also for many other reasons. One of such reasons is their intense rivalry.
Other than this, the two teams have given a platform to several young cricketers who later went on to be legends for their nation.
From Chennai Super Kings' Suresh Raina, Ravi Ashwin, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ravindra Jadeja, and Shivam Dube to MI's Jasprit Bumrah, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, and many more.
Afghan spinners retained by CSK and MI ahead of mini-auction
With just three days left for the retentions to be announced by all the IPL teams, Subhayan Chakraborty, the Assistant Editor of RevSportz, has made a stunning revelation on the CSK and MI stars who are to be retained.
As per claims, they are likely to retain Noor Ahmed, who had a spectacular run with the Men in Yellow.
It was probably the most productive season for Noor despite CSK's constant poor performances. The spinner played a game less than Prasidh Kirshna of the Gujarat Titans and picked a wicket fewer than the highest.
In 14 games, Noor Ahmed picked 24 wickets with a very controlled economy. On the other hand, the Mumbai Indians' claimed retention looks pretty unlikely.
Allah Ghazanfar was picked as their frontline spinner but was ruled out before the start of the season due to an injury, and has seen a major dip in form lately.
Noor Ahmed - CSK (Retained)
— Subhayan Chakraborty (@CricSubhayan) November 11, 2025
Allah Ghazanfar - Mumbai Indians (Retained)
Ravindra Jadeja's departure will lead to a crunch of spin options for the Chennai Super Kings
The veteran Indian all-rounder, who has been one of the most loyal servants for the Chennai Super Kings since 2012, when he first moved into the side, has been plotted to be traded off. In between when the side was banned from the IPL, he played a couple of seasons with the Gujarat Lions.
But to Ravindra Jadeja's glory, he is moving back to his former franchise, the Rajasthan Royals, with whom he had kick-started his IPL career back in 2008.
After Jaddu departs from CSK, the main pillar of CSK's spin bowling will be gone from Chepauk.
Noor would be leading the spinners, but with Ravichandran Ashwin retired and Jadeja gone, CSK would have to bring in fresh faces who can spin the ball alongside the Afghan chinaman bowler.
The Mumbai Indians faced a massive spinner crisis in IPL 2025
The Mumbai Indians went all the way through to Qualifier 2 before losing to the Punjab Kings in the knockout game. They finished third in the season and played a fine brand of cricket, especially with the bat.
The bowlers did a fair enough job, but what they lacked evidently were quality spinners in the middle phase.
They had Mitchell Santner in the side, but could not bring him to full potential, while young Vignesh Puthur made some undeniably useful contributions.
However, Karn Sharma or Mujeeb Ur Rehman didn't seem to be the ones who could answer the Mumbai Indians' spin issues. Will Jacks also played a part-time hand as an off-spinner.
ALSO READ: Shubman Gill humiliates MS Dhoni, shuts the door on his face twice
