Mumbai Indians (MI) Punjab have signed all-rounder Krish Bhagat as a replacement for the injured Atharva Ankolekar for the rest of the 2026 Indian Premier League (IPL) season.
AnkolekarThe Mumbai city resident was recently bought by MI for his base price of Rs 30 lakh in the mini auction. However, the 25-year-old had not made a single appearance before his unfortunate injury.
As a replacement, the five-time champions have brought in Bhagat. The 21-year-old player has not played a single professional T20 match in his youth cricket career so far. However, MI knows Bhagat really well. The Punjab all-rounder featured for the Reliance team in the DY Patil T20 Cup in 2026. Since then he has been the franchise's assistant bowler for the net sessions from the beginning of the pre-season.
Despite not playing the shortest format of the game in his professional career, Bhagat has played seven first-class matches and nine List A matches for Punjab since his debut in 2024.
The right-handed batsman has one half-century to his name in List A cricket, which came against Uttarakhand in the Vijay Hazare Trophy late last year.
“Krish has consistently impressed the coaching staff with his dedication, work ethic and quality in every session and practice game he has played for Mumbai Indians. His commitment and development in domestic and Mumbai Indians practice sessions over the last few years has earned him this well-deserved opportunity to transition into the main team,” an official Mumbai Indians statement read.
It is worth noting that MI is known for giving big chances to young players in the IPL, with players like Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah and Krunal Pandya getting their breaks in an MI shirt before becoming some of the best players in the league. Should Bhagat impress the management, there is no reason why he can't make his IPL debut this year and make the cricket world pay attention to him.
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