IPL 2026 Auction: Akash Ambani, who is the owner of Mumbai Indians, has revealed that they have always bid for Quinton de Kock every time and that one of the biggest reason for them bidding for Quinton was owing the relation he has with Rohit Sharma. In an interaction with the broadcaster, Ambani revealed that de Kock has a good relation with Rohit Sharma.
De Kock has played for MI for three years between 2019 to 2021. He played for KKR in IPL 2025, but they had to let him go before the auction.
He scored a brilliant knock of 90 runs in 2nd T20I against the Suryakumar Yadav-led side and played a huge role in helping South Africa win the match. He registered his name at the base price of Rs 1 cr.
“If you have seen, we have bid for Quinney in every auction that he has been available. Even last year, we were bidding against KKR for him. And the real thought process is there is a real chemistry now between Rohit and Quinney," Ambani said.
“They were the championship-winning opening pair for us. Yes, it has been five (four) years later, that is what I told them when I spoke to both of them. But from my point of view, he is still very, very, very experienced and a very good IPL performer," he said.
Now that de Kock has rejoined MI, it will be interesting to see who will play as an opener along with Rohit Sharma in the next season. They already have Ryan Rickelton as another opener, who played with Rohit last year and helped MI qualify fr playoffs.
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“Not to discount that his relationship with Ryan was a big factor in what we said, you know, growing up, Ryan idolised Quinton," he concluded.