Shocking! Abhishek Nayar tried to convince Rohit Sharma to leave MI for KKR ahead of IPL 2026 auction
A former Indian player has suggested that Abhishek Nayar, who shares a very close bond with Indian veteran Rohit Sharma, might have asked him to leave Mumbai Indians and join the KKR team for the upcoming season.
Mumbai Indians have a compact list of cricketers whom they selected in the IPL 2025 mega-auction. MI finished second in the season losing the qualifiers to Punjab Kings.
As the retention deadline approaches, the IPL market is slowly heating up and Mumbai Indians seem active in the trade window. They have already officially announced two trades, and another has been discussed.
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Abhishek Nayar could have urged Rohit Sharma to join KKR
Former cricketer Mohammad Kaif recently commented on the chances of former Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma being traded to Kolkata Knight Riders ahead of the IPL 2026 auction.
He suggested that Abhishek Nayar, the new head coach of 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 children are in Mumbai,” Mohammad Kaif said in a live session.
“So it is convenient for him that way. He is around 39 years old, so it might be in his mind that he will have to spend three or four months at KKR, where the pitch, the 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 IPL titles. His captaincy tenure ended after 13 years in 2024 with the arrival of Hardik Pandya.
Mohammad Kaif also pointed out that Rohit Sharma is very closely linked to the Ambani family and hence the star player would have only considered playing for a different franchise if MI had different owners.
“Here, everyone is like family to him, and he also has a connection with Reliance. If Akash Ambani or Reliance were not involved, maybe he would have considered leaving the team,” Kaif said in the same video.
Real motive behind MI’s INR 4.6 crore transaction deal
The trade window marked Shardul Thakur to move from Lucknow Super Giants and then Sherfane Rutherford from Gujarat Titans to Mumbai Indians for prices of INR 2 crore and INR 2.6 crore, respectively.
MI earned INR 20 lakh from Arjun Tendulkar’s trade 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 worth noting which players could be released by Mumbai Indians.
Moreover, the two former Mumbai Indians players Mayank Markande and Rahul Chahar are under MI’s radar as they are also in talks with Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad. However, this would cost them a fortune of almost INR 3.2 crores or more.
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