He has nine wickets at an average of 11.44 in Vijay Hazare Trophy 2025/26.
Mumbai Indians (MI) spinner Mayank Markande has shown tremendous form in the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy 2025/26. Playing for Punjab, he has been one of the best spinners in the tournament, which bodes well for the five-time champions ahead of IPL 2026.
Markande has nine wickets at an average of 11.44 and a strike rate of 16.44 in four innings, including a best of 4/17. He went wicketless in the opening Vijay Hazare Trophy fixture against Himachal but bounced back strongly from the second game onwards.
He firstly took two wickets for two runs against Sikkim in Jaipur to guide his team to a comfortable victory before coming with a three-wicket haul against Goa. Mayank Markande registered figures of 8-0-29-3 to end as the best bowler in the game.
ALSO READ:
Then came his best performance against a formidable Mumbai outfit in the latest round of the tournament, as he took as many as four wickets for 31 runs in 5.2 overs, dismissing big batters like Sarfaraz Khan and Shreyas Iyer to help Punjab register an improbable one-run victory. While Gurnoor Brar won the Player of the Match award, Markande’s spell was equally decisive, as he continued to improve his returns in the 50-over format.
Before the IPL 2026 auction, Mumbai Indians traded Mayank Markande from Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at his price of INR 30 Lakhs. The key reason to include him in the squad was the lack of a quality leg-spinner; they had Karn Sharma, but released him before the auction.
Hence, Mayank Markande stands a real chance of making it to the Mumbai Indians playing XI in IPL 2026, for the team needs another spinner to partner with Mitchell Santner. Santner is among the finest defensive spinners who also bring batting value, but MI will get a wicket-taker who can leak runs but make inroads in Markande.
With the Impact Player rule in place, they can use him similarly to how Karn Sharma was utilised last season – coming in the middle overs and taking breakthroughs. He has previously played for the MI franchise, and some of his best performances in IPL have also come with Mumbai Indians.
Mayank Markande has represented MI for three seasons – 2018, 2019, and 2022 – taking 17 wickets at an average of 28.47 in 19 innings, including a best of 4/23. Maybe a return to the franchise will help him find his beast form again, something that’s been missing in recent years.
For more updates, follow CricXtasy on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.
