Reports: Mumbai Indians to retain Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya and an uncapped player

IPL defending champions Mumbai Indians in all likelihood will be retaining skipper Rohit Sharma along with the Pandya brothers, Hardik and Krunal ahead of the mega auction set to take place on January 27 at Bengaluru. The side is probably the strongest in terms of composition and has identified their core players but this decision is also very strategic.

Even though the last date of submission for the player retention is January 4 and mostly all the franchises are more or less certain about the kind of players they would like to retain and the ones they would buy back with Right To Match (RTM) cards. However, teams like Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kolkata Knight Riders may not have reached a decision yet.

“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,” a senior BCCI official in the know of things was quoted on Sportskeeda.

“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,” he added.

If the strategic decision to retain Krunal has been made, it will enable the franchise to buy back their other match winners Kieron Pollard and Jasprit Bumrah with the ‘Right To Match’ cards smoothly.

“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 BCCI official said.

What about the others?

Coming to the other teams, it has been reported that Delhi are still undecided about having two or three retentions but Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer’s presence is almost certain. being India players are certain to be retained. Meanwhile, Steve Smith is expected to be retained by Rajasthan Royals after having spent two years at the Rising Pune Supergiants.

The Chennai Super Kings are set to retain three of their marquee players — skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, IPL superstar Suresh Raina and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja while Dwayne Bravo, if fit, is all but certain to be bought back with Right To Match card. Skipper David Warner looks certain to be retained by the Sunrisers Hyderabad who can also retain the immensely talented Deepak Hooda by paying Rs 3 crore for the uncapped player just like MI will be doing for Krunal.