“He is hit and miss” - Mohammad Kaif’s blunt take on Mumbai Indians’ trade ahead of IPL 2026 auction

Former India batter Mohammad Kaif offered a huge take on the Mumbai Indians' decision to trade in hard-hitting batter Sherfane Rutherford from the Gujarat Titans. Kaif feels the 27-year-old West Indian could be very inconsistent.

Rutherford, who was part of the Titans in IPL 2025, was traded to MI for a sum of ₹2.6 crore on Thursday, November 13. He mustered 291 runs in 13 games and struck at 157.29 this year. Rutherford has played 221 T20 matches and holds a promising strike rate of 136.76.

Speaking in the latest video on his YouTube channel, Mohammad Kaif suggested that Rutherford hasn't established himself as a proper finisher. But he cited Kieron Pollard's example and pointed out how MI have a knack of developing finishers.

"Sherfane Rutherford seems like a gamble. If it works on the day, he can even hit 25 runs in six balls. But it needs to work and Mumbai Indians are taking that gamble. He is a West Indian player, so he is powerful and T20 cricket needs power-hitters. Mumbai Indians have had that history, keeping in mind Kieron Pollard, who played for several years. He became a big finisher for them. Pollard might have a role in this but Rutherford is a hit and miss. But we had seen in IPL 2025 if the ball connects cleanly off his bat, it can even go missing. He can also hit the ball out of the Wankhede Stadium. But he is hit and miss."

At the same time, Kaif underlined that Rutherford can also struggle, especially against wide-yorker deliveries and recalled the match against the Punjab Kings in IPL 2025.

"There was a match against Punjab Kings and Vijaykumar Vyshak was the bowler and GT were chasing. Vyshak bowled a wide yorker and Rutherford wasn’t even able to connect. He can also play dot balls. So, this is a gamble and Mumbai Indians is known for taking players, who can play lesser balls and score impactful runs even if he wins 2 or 3 out of 14 games. If they have taken Rutherford, they would have done all the thinking. Rutherford’s game has improved and he is a good player on the leg side."

On Thursday, MI's second trade was also confirmed as Shardul Thakur shifted his base from the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) for ₹2 crore.

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"This strategy is to fit someone with Hardik Pandya" - Mohammad Kaif on MI acquiring Sherfane Rutherford

Sherfane Rutherford played for GT in IPL 2025. (Credits: Getty)

Mohammad Kaif also observed that the five-time champions have plenty of top-order batters. Hence, they might have felt the need to accommodate someone alongside Hardik Pandya. The 44-year-old elaborated:

"If we speak of Mumbai Indians, Pollard is no longer playing. There is no player after Hardik Pandya, who can hit say 25 runs off 10 balls. All are top-order players. Even Will Jacks, who is a top-order player, is slotting down. Ryan Rickelton, Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma all play at the top. They don’t have a bona fide finisher. So, this strategy is to fit someone with Hardik Pandya. If it works, he can win 2-3 games. Since last year we missed a finisher, they thought to make a finisher in Rutherford."

The Mumbai Indians were eliminated in the IPL 2025 playoffs after losing to runners-up PBKS in Qualifier 2.