In what comes as major news, Mumbai Indians (MI) are all set to retain all four of their star Indian players. Reports state that Hardik Pandya, Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah are likely to remain at MI ahead of the 2025 season of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
It was a tough phase in 2024 for the five-time champions who finished last on the points table. Rohit Sharma who has led MI to five IPL titles was sacked before the start of the season while Pandya was drafted in from Gujarat Titans (GT) and was handed over the captaincy. It was a move that did not sit well with fans. Pandya was booed everywhere he went and was made to be the scapegoat by the MI fans.
There were multiple rumours that Rohit may not remain at MI next season and we could well see the Indian captain in the IPL auction for the first time since 2011. It was reported that both Surya and Bumrah were unhappy with the team management. However, those rumours may have been squashed with MI likely to retain all four.
MI recently announced a change in head coach and got back Mahela Jayawardene at the helm. The former Sri Lanka skipper was the head coach when MI won the title in 2017, 2019 and 2020. Mark Boucher did not have a great run as MI finished 10th twice in the last three seasons.
The last day to announce the retentions is 31st of October, 5 PM IST. Teams can retain as many as six players (a maximum of five capped and a maximum of two uncapped). The first three retentions are valued at ₹18 crore, ₹14 crore and ₹11 crore respectively. Meanwhile, the last two spots are valued at ₹18 crore and ₹14 crore respectively. Hence, it’ll be interesting to see how MI manage the retention numbers for the aforementioned star players.
In addition to this, according to a report in the Indian Express, MI could potentially aim at buying back wicket-keeper batter Ishan Kishan who has been with the franchise since 2018. Moreover, Nehal Wadhera or Naman Dhir could be retained under the uncapped category.
RR, PBKS and DC to retain their Indian core for IPL 2025
In other news, Rajasthan Royals (RR) are expected to retain Sanju Samson, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Riyan Parag. Jos Buttler is in line to be retained as well. RR have already initiated talks with the England white-ball captain.
Punjab Kings (PBKS) are keen to hold on to Arshdeep Singh as their primary retention while the likes of Shashank Singh and Ashutosh Sharma who were impressive in the 2024 edition could be retained as the uncapped players. Meanwhile, on expected lines, Rishabh Pant, Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav are all set to be retained by Delhi Capitals.
Nicholas Pooran is a certainty for Lucknow Super Giants (LSG). However, they are yet to make a decision on KL Rahul who has been their captain for three years now.