Is Trent Boult dropped? Yes. Mumbai Indians have left Trent Boult out of the playing XI for the MI vs LSG clash at the Wankhede Stadium on May 4, with the veteran left-arm pacer named among the impact substitutes instead. Stand-in captain Suryakumar Yadav confirmed at the toss that “Corbin comes in for Boult,” making it clear this is a tactical change rather than an injury-enforced absence.
Trent Boult is not injured. He is available and listed as an impact sub option for tonight’s match. The decision to drop Trent Boult from the MI playing XI is a form-based call — and the numbers across 2026 make a compelling case for it.
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Why Is Trent Boult Not Playing Today?
Why is Trent Boult not playing today against Lucknow Super Giants? The short answer is poor form. The longer answer is that Boult has been struggling throughout 2026 — not just in the IPL, but across the entire calendar year including the SA20 for MI Cape Town. The numbers paint a stark picture of a bowler who has lost his edge.
Here is Trent Boult’s complete T20 record in 2026 across all competitions:
Trent Boult 2026 T20 stats (all competitions combined)
12 matches, 41.1 overs, 435 runs conceded, 8 wickets, best bowling 3/28, average 54.37, economy 10.56, strike rate 30.8.
Those are damning numbers for a bowler retained at INR 12.50 crore. An economy of 10.56 across 12 matches is not a blip — it is a sustained decline that has carried across two tournaments and two continents.
Breaking it down by competition:
SA20 2026 (MI Cape Town): 7 matches, 25 overs, 247 runs conceded, 6 wickets, best bowling 3/28, average 41.16, economy 9.88.
IPL 2026 (Mumbai Indians): 5 matches, 16.1 overs, 188 runs conceded, 2 wickets, best bowling 1/41, average 94.00, economy 11.62.
The SA20 numbers were already concerning — an economy of 9.88 is high even by SA20 standards, and MI Cape Town had a poor tournament, winning just 3 of their 10 matches. But Boult’s IPL 2026 figures are on another level entirely. Two wickets from five matches at an economy of 11.62 and an average of 94 is the worst sustained stretch of Boult’s IPL career. For context, Boult took 22 wickets at an economy of 7.97 in IPL 2025 — the season that justified his INR 12.50 crore price tag. The drop-off from 2025 to 2026 has been dramatic.
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Is Trent Boult Dropped Or Injured?
Is Trent Boult dropped or injured is a common doubt after the MI playing XI was revealed. Trent Boult is not injured. He is fit and available for selection — MI have named him in the impact substitute pool for tonight’s MI vs LSG match alongside Rohit Sharma, Mayank Rawat, Robin Minz, and Shardul Thakur. The decision to leave Boult out is purely tactical. What happened to Trent Boult is a loss of form and effectiveness rather than any physical setback.
The fact that Boult is an impact sub rather than completely out of the squad means MI could still introduce him during the match if conditions favour swing or if they need a left-arm option. But the starting XI selection sends a clear signal that Corbin Bosch has moved ahead of Boult in the pecking order.
What Went Wrong For Trent Boult In IPL 2026?
Trent Boult’s IPL 2026 numbers tell a specific story. In five matches this season, Boult has gone wicketless in the powerplay across six overs, conceding 85 runs at a powerplay economy of 14.16. For a bowler whose entire value proposition is built on taking early wickets with the new ball — Boult holds the record for the most wickets (31) in the opening over of an IPL innings — going wicketless in the powerplay across five matches is a fundamental breakdown of his role.
The problems are not new. They started at the SA20 in January, where Boult’s economy climbed to 9.88 across seven matches for MI Cape Town. The defending champions had a poor tournament, and Boult’s inability to take wickets with the new ball was a contributing factor. His best SA20 performance — 3/28 against Sunrisers Eastern Cape — came in MI Cape Town’s penultimate match, far too late to rescue their campaign.
Boult’s decline in 2026 contrasts sharply with his IPL 2025 form, where he was MI’s leading wicket-taker with 22 wickets. That season, Boult was swinging the new ball consistently, picking up powerplay wickets, and forming a lethal partnership with Jasprit Bumrah. The Bumrah-Boult new-ball pair was central to MI reaching Qualifier 2 in 2025. In 2026, that partnership has barely functioned — Bumrah has been battling his own form issues, and Boult has not been able to hold up his end.
At 36, the question of whether this is a temporary loss of form or an age-related decline is unavoidable. Boult turns 37 in July, and the pace and swing that made him one of the IPL’s most dangerous new-ball bowlers may be diminishing. His career T20 economy of 8.18 across 297 matches makes the 2026 figure of 10.56 look like an outlier — but it is an outlier that has now persisted across 12 matches and two different tournaments.
Who Replaces Trent Boult In MI Playing XI?
Corbin Bosch replaces Trent Boult in the MI playing XI for the MI vs LSG match, confirmed by Suryakumar Yadav, clearing all doubts on ‘is Trent Boult dropped’ for today’s game. The South African seamer offers pace, bounce, and lower-order batting — a different profile to Boult’s swing-first approach, but one that gives MI more balance, particularly with Hardik Pandya also missing tonight’s match due to illness.
Bosch has been used as a like-for-like replacement for Boult before. In the DC vs MI match on April 4 — when Pandya was also unwell — Bosch came in for Boult as part of three changes. Tonight’s swap is more pointed because Boult is fit and available; this is a selection call, not a forced change.
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MI Vs LSG Playing XI
Mumbai Indians Playing XI: Ryan Rickelton (wk), Naman Dhir, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Tilak Varma, Will Jacks, Raj Bawa, Corbin Bosch, Deepak Chahar, Jasprit Bumrah, AM Ghazanfar, Raghu Sharma
Mumbai Indians Impact Subs: Rohit Sharma, Mayank Rawat, Robin Minz, Shardul Thakur, Trent Boult
Lucknow Super Giants Playing XI: Mitchell Marsh, Aiden Markram, Rishabh Pant (wk/c), Josh Inglis, Nicholas Pooran, Akshat Raghuwanshi, Himmat Singh, Mohammed Shami, Mohsin Khan, Avesh Khan, Prince Yadav
Lucknow Super Giants Impact Subs: Manimaran Siddharth, Digvesh Singh Rathi, Mayank Yadav, Shahbaz Ahmed, Abdul Samad
Trent Boult IPL Career Stats
For context on how far Boult’s 2026 numbers have fallen, here is a snapshot of his overall IPL career. Boult has taken 145 wickets in 123 IPL matches at an economy of 8.50 and a bowling average of 26.90. He has 12 three-wicket hauls and 2 four-wicket hauls in his career, with a best of 4/18. His record in the opening over — 31 wickets, the most by any bowler in IPL history — underlines just how effective he has been as a new-ball weapon across his career. The 2026 numbers represent the worst season of his IPL career by some distance.
Will Trent Boult Play Again For MI In IPL 2026?
Is Trent Boult dropped permanently or is this a one-off rotation? With MI’s season effectively over — they sit ninth on the IPL 2026 points table with 4 points from 10 matches and need to win all five remaining games to even reach 14 points — there is less pressure to stick with underperforming senior players. Boult could return if conditions at a particular venue suit swing bowling, or if MI rotate their overseas combination in the remaining matches.
However, the fact that MI chose Corbin Bosch, AM Ghazanfar, and Deepak Chahar as their three frontline seamers tonight — leaving both Boult and Shardul Thakur as impact subs — suggests the coaching staff have concluded that Boult’s current form does not warrant a starting spot. Whether this changes in MI’s remaining fixtures against RCB, KKR, PBKS, and RR will depend on how the bowling unit performs without him.
The broader question hovering over Trent Boult is whether IPL 2026 marks the end of an era. At 36, with his 2026 numbers across SA20 and IPL pointing to a clear decline, MI will have difficult decisions to make about their bowling attack heading into the 2027 season. For now, Boult watches from the dugout as MI fight for pride against bottom-placed LSG.
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