IPL 2018: Mumbai Indians keen on retaining Pandya brothers

The build up to the 2018 edition of the Indian Premier League has already begun. Prior to the big fat IPL 2018 auctions, the teams are set with their task to specify their retained players before the cut off date of January 2018. As per the recent reports, the defending champions Mumbai Indians are keen on retaining the services of the popular Pandya brothers.

Retaining their skipper Rohit Sharma comes as an automatic selection. Prior to the auctions, the franchises can retain a maximum of three players. Hence, in addition to Rohit, Mumbai Indians are keen on retaining Hardik Pandya and Krunal Pandya. While there are reports of Jasprit Bumrah being in contention, retaining Krunal ahead of Bumrah is a more economical choice for Mumbai Indians since he is an uncapped player.

“Skipper Rohit Sharma is an automatic retention having led the team to three IPL titles. Hardik Pandya is one of the big match-winners and the interesting third retention would be Krunal Pandya. Krunal being an uncapped Indian can be retained for only Rs 3 crore instead of Rs 7 crore for third capped player. Also Krunal was an exceptional performer last year,” a senior BCCI official in the know of things quoted as per the reports in India Today.

“MI has been the biggest advocate of five retentions. These five are their core group of match winners and it will be surprising if they deviate from this strategy,” the official added further.

Perks of retaining an uncapped player

Explaining further on the same note, the official remarked that retaining an uncapped player is at almost half the cost of retaining a capped player. He noted the different denominations for which a player can be retained prior to the IPL 2018 auctions.

“If you retain two capped players, you spend Rs 21 crore (Rs 12.5 crore for Player 1 and Rs 8.5 for Player 2) instead of Rs 33 crore for three capped players (Rs 15 crore for Player 1, Rs 11 crore for Player 2 and Rs 7 crore for Player 3),” explained the BCCI official.

Hence, in all likelihood, many franchises could turn to this option of retaining an uncapped player. This will not only help them get the domestic reserves up and running, but also save a lot of bucks from their purse. Sunrisers Hyderabad, who are being tipped to retain their big three, could in fact, retain someone else like all-rounder Deepak Hooda.

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