Shocking! Abhishek Nayar tried convincing Rohit Sharma to quit MI for KKR ahead of IPL 2026 auction
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A former Indian player has suggested that Abhishek Nayar, who shares a very close bond with the Indian veteran opener Rohit Sharma, might have asked him to leave the Mumbai Indians and join the KKR squad for the upcoming season.
The Mumbai Indians have a compact list of cricketers whom they picked in the IPL 2025 mega-auction. MI finished as the second runners-up of the season by losing the Qualifier to the Punjab Kings.
With the retention deadline approaching, the IPL market is heating up slowly, and the Mumbai Indians have looked active in the trade window. They have already announced two trades officially, and another has been talked about.
Abhishek Nayar might have urged Rohit Sharma to join KKR
Former cricketer Mohammad Kaif recently commented on the chances of the Mumbai Indians' former skipper, Rohit Sharma, being traded off to the Kolkata Knight Riders ahead of the IPL 2026 auction.
He suggested that Abhishek Nayar, the newly appointed head coach of the Kolkata Knight Riders, had a very close association with Rohit Sharma and must have asked the player if he was interested in playing for KKR.
"Nayar would have asked Rohit if he wanted to join KKR.) According to me, Abhishek Nayar would have definitely asked Rohit if he wanted to join KKR. He must have asked, 100%. But Rohit, being Rohit, had a chance to go last time too, but he didn't. His family and kids are in Mumbai," said Mohammad Kaif during a live session.
"So, it's convenient for him that way. He is around 39 years of age, so this could be in his mind that he will need to spend three-four months in KKR, where the pitch, people, everything will be different," he added.
Here, everyone is like family to him - Mohammed Kaif
Rohit Sharma joined the Mumbai-based side in 2011, and under his leadership, he became the first IPL captain to win five titles in the IPL. His captaincy stint ended after 13 years in 2024 with the arrival of Hardik Pandya.
Mohammad Kaif also pointed out that Rohit Sharma is very closely bonded to the Ambani family, and hence, the star player would have considered playing for a different franchise only if MI had some different owners.
"Here, everyone is like family to him, and he also has a connection with Reliance. If Akash Ambani or Reliance weren't involved, maybe he would have considered leaving the team," said Kaif in the same video.
Real motive behind MI's INR 4.6 crore deal on trades
The trade window marked Shardul Thakur to move from Lucknow Super Giants and then Sherfane Rutherford from Gujarat Titans to the Mumbai Indians for the prices of INR 2 crore and INR 2.6 crore, respectively.
MI made INR 20 lakh from the trade exchange of Arjun Tendulkar with LSG, still marking a deficit of INR 4.6 crore. The same amount will be deducted from their purse for the mini-auction. It is also to be noted which players might be released by the Mumbai Indians.
Also, the two former Mumbai Indians players, Mayank Markande and Rahul Chahar, are under the radar of MI as they are in talks with the Kolkata Knight Riders and the Sunrisers Hyderabad as well. However, this would cost them a fortune of nearly INR 3.2+ crore or more.
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Tagged:
IPL Mumbai Indians Kolkata Knight Riders Rohit Sharma Abhishek Nayar Shardul Thakur Sherfane Rutherford
