Which team has the strongest batting order after IPL 2026 Auction? A deep dive into top orders, finishers, and overall depth.
T20 has become the batters’ format, with strings of 200+ totals put up for fun, game after game. At the recently concluded Indian Premier League 2026 mini-auctions, franchises toiled hard to strengthen their batting departments. However, in the end Mumbai Indians (MI) walked out of the auction with probably the most explosive batting core in the league, built around proven international match-winners and multi-dimensional hitters across the top seven.
Punjab Kings (PBKS) and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) have assembled powerful batting units too but neither combines depth, versatility, and big-game pedigree quite like MI. Mumbai’s lineup looks very promising and lethal. The top order almost picks itself: Rohit Sharma and Quinton de Kock, the opening pair when MI last lifted the trophy in 2020, are reunited and instantly restore a left-right, power-plus-range template that worked brilliantly in their previous cycle.
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In that 2019-2021 phase, de Kock scored 1329 IPL runs at a strike rate of around 134 and averaged near 31 for MI in 43 matches, while Rohit’s powerplay stability allowed the South Africa star to attack more freely. Recreating that partnership in 2026, with Rohit in a more liberated role under Hardik Pandya’s captaincy, gives MI a head start over most teams at the top.
What makes MI truly terrifying is what follows. Suryakumar Yadav remains one of the format’s most destructive 360-degree batters, with an IPL strike rate over 143, thriving particularly between overs 7-15. Tilak Varma has already shown the ability to anchor and accelerate, striking over 140 in his first three IPL seasons while averaging at 37.5, a rare combination for a young domestic left-hander. Together, they give MI a middle order that can either rebuild after early losses or launch relentlessly if the openers fire well.
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MI’s middle-order muscle & depth
Hardik Pandya at No. 5 is the engine room of this lineup. Across his IPL career, Hardik has scored over 2749 runs at a strike rate of almost 147, with a particularly lethal record at the death where his strike rate touches the 180-190 mark. There also is Naman Dhir’s domestic-hitter profile and Sherfane Rutherford’s reputation as a late-overs six-hitter, who has a T20 strike rate around 140 with a high percentage of runs in boundaries. MI suddenly possess three genuine finishers between No. 5 and No. 7.
Ryan Rickelton has proven to be a high-class back-up top-order wicketkeeper after an impressive maiden IPL season in 2025, where he scored 388 runs at 151 strike rate. Will Jacks provides yet another top-order option who can bat anywhere in the top four and bowls useful off-spin. Moreover, he owns a T20 strike rate above 150 in IPL.
Atharva Ankolekar strengthens the lower middle order with spin and handy batting, while Mitchell Santner gives MI a left-arm spinner who can bat at Nos. 7 or 8 and has a T20 strike rate close to 130, ideal for deepening the batting without compromising bowling.
In essence, MI can realistically field a top seven of Rohit, de Kock, Suryakumar, Tilak, Hardik, Rutherford, Dhir, with Rickelton and Jacks as flexible cover and Santner/Atharva lengthening the order. That is at least eight players capable of clearing the ropes regularly, spread from Nos. 1 to 8, with multiple left-right combinations and several part-time bowling options.
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How Punjab Kings batting stack up
Punjab Kings are not far behind and arguably boast the most improved batting group after MI. Their core of Shreyas Iyer, Prabhsimran Singh, Shashank Singh, Nehal Wadhera, Priyansh Arya and Marcus Stoinis, supported by Cooper Connolly and Marco Jansen, offers both solidity and explosiveness.
Prabhsimran has already shown his intent in the powerplay with an IPL strike rate over 150 and a century to his name, even if his average still hovers in the mid-20s. Shashank Singh was one of IPL 2525’s breakout finishers, striking above 155 while producing multiple impactful cameos in successful chases. Nehal Wadhera, used as a floater for MI earlier, averaged in the mid-20s with a strike rate around 140 in his first two IPL seasons, proving he can handle pressure in the middle overs and at the death.
Marcus Stoinis brings valuable all-round balance with a T20 career strike rate near 147 and 2026 runs across all IPL seasons, while Cooper Connolly, fresh from U-19 heroics and early BBL cameos, adds fearless left-handed hitting in the lower middle order. Marco Jansen at No. 7 or 8 is another plus. Though primarily a bowler, he has the ability to go big in the last few overs, as he showed against India in the recent series.
Punjab’s only slight drawback compared to MI is the absence of a universally elite, multi-season IPL middle-order demolisher in the Suryakumar/Hardik mould, though Iyer’s class and Stoinis-Shashank’s duo narrow that gap.
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LSG’s quietly dangerous lineup
Lucknow Super Giants have opted for a power-heavy batting core that may not have MI’s depth but definitely has a match-winning ceiling. Their batting group features Rishabh Pant, Nicholas Pooran, Mitchell Marsh, Aiden Markram, Abdul Samad, Ayush Badoni, and Matthew Breetzke as primary options. The retention of Pant as captain and Pooran as designated finisher/floater shows LSG’s intent to build around two of the most brutal left-handed strikers in the format.
Pant’s IPL form needs little elaboration: 3553 runs in 125 matches, a strike rate close to 148 and a history of dismantling spin in the middle overs. Pooran, meanwhile, has become one of the most feared middle-order hitters in global T20 cricket, with a career strike rate of 169 in IPL. Mitchell Marsh offers top-order muscle. He has several T20I fifties at above 140 strike rate, and can double up as a third seamer, while Aiden Markram adds stability and spin-hitting ability with an IPL strike rate in the mid-130s so far.
Abdul Samad and Ayush Badoni give LSG a youthful finishing core. Samad, though inconsistent, has played some impressive cameo roles. Badoni has shown temperament in chases and can float between Nos. 5 and 7, striking around 130 and rotating well in the middle overs. With Breetzke and Himmat Singh as bench options, LSG have ample batting cover but rely more heavily on a few stars unlike MI, whose threats are more evenly spread.
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