LSG trade Shardul Thakur to MI; Arjun Tendulkar to head to LSG

India allrounder Shardul Thakur has joined Mumbai Indians (MI) ahead of IPL 2026.

ESPNcricinfo has learned that MI reached an in-principle agreement with Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) to get Thakur via an all-cash trade deal.

Thakur could now become a quiz question as this is the third trade involving him in the IPL - in 2017, Rising Pune Supergiant bought him from Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings), and before the 2023 season Kolkata Knight Riders procured him from Delhi Capitals. Both those trades were also all-cash deals.

Thakur, who had gone unsold at the 2025 mega auction and was to join Essex in the County Championship, was picked by LSG as a replacement for Mohsin Khan at his base price of INR 2 crore. It seemed like a good investment on the part of LSG's mentor at the time, Zaheer Khan, as he took six wickets in his first two matches in IPL 2025. Thakur, however, struggled after that, playing only ten matches and taking 13 wickets with an economy rate of 11.02.

The move to MI is a homecoming of sorts for Thakur. He was a support bowler for MI from 2010-12 and was also appointed Mumbai captain in domestic cricket for this season.

MI and LSG have also agreed on a separate trade deal involving Arjun Tendulkar, who has been playing for MI since IPL 2023. It is learnt the left-arm fast bowler, who was bought by MI for INR 30 lakh last year, has been traded to LSG. It is also learnt that MI have decided to release Tendulkar so he could possibly get more playing opportunities at LSG.

Tendulkar was first bought by MI in the 2021 auction for INR 20 lakh and made his debut in the 2023 edition, when he went on to play four matches in the league. Overall, he has featured in five IPL games for three wickets at an economy rate of 9.36. In the domestic circuit he started with his T20 debut for Mumbai in early 2021 before moving to Goa before the 2022-23 season, when he made his first-class and one-day debuts.