Former India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin picks the X-factor and Mumbai Indians (MI)’s best batsman ahead of the IPL 2026 season. In his YouTube video, while talking about the MI squad, Ahswin did not like to pick Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav or Hardik Pandya as his potential best batsman or X-factor for the upcoming Indian Premier League season.
5-time IPL winners Mumbai Indians will begin their journey in IPL 2026 on March 29, the next day after the inaugural edition of the edition. For the first match of their title race, MI will face Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at the Wankhede Stadium.
Mumbai Indians’ last IPL winning season was in 2020
Last season, the former IPL champions had a very tough start, dropping several points in the early stages of the 2025 IPL season. Afterwards, they gained momentum and entered the play-offs by only a narrow margin, but failed to carry their momentum into the final of the competition. They lost to Punjab Kings (PBKS) by five wickets in Qualifier 2.
Mumbai Indians last won the title in 2020 under the leadership of Rohit Sharma. Later, keeping an eye on the future, the management appointed Ravichandran Ashwin as captain in place of Sharma.
The Mumbai team has not been able to regain its form yet under the leadership of Hardik Pandya. After winning the title in 2020, MI crashed out of the title race at the league stage in the next two editions. In 2023, they reached the playoffs against Gujarat Titans.
Who will be the best batsman for Mumbai Indians in IPL 2026?
There will be expectations from the team during the IPL 2026 season. The team is full of stars, but who can be the best performer for the team? Ravichandran Ashwin believes that Tilak Verma can be his best batsman in the coming season, and the best bowler for Ashwin will be none other than Jasprit Bumrah.
“According to me, this time the best batsman for Mumbai will be Tilak Verma. And we have predicted the best bowler. We can’t think of anyone other than Jasprit Bumrah,” Ashwin said during a discussion on his YouTube show ‘Aash Ki Baat’.
But who will be the dark horse for Mumbai Indians? Here too, Ashwin makes another unexpected call. Instead of naming any superstar, the former India spinner felt that Afghanistan international Allah Ghazanfar could be MI’s trump card.
And who will be the X-factor for the team?
20-year-old right-arm spinner Allah Ghazanfar is set to make his Indian Premier League debut. In the last two ILT20 seasons, the budding spinner proved his skills for MI Emirates. In the 2025-26 season with MI Emirates, the Afghan spinner took 15 wickets in 13 matches at an economy rate of 7.04.
He said, “Is there any dark horse in MI’s XI? I think, if you want to pick a dark horse, you can say Allah Ghazanfar. They will play him this time. And he can perform well too. He will bowl with the new ball and can get the drift as well. Also, he can bowl a little bit light. So, I think he can be the only dark horse I can talk about. Otherwise, everything Is set.”
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