Reports : Mumbai Indians likely to retain Rohit Sharma and Pandya Brothers
Defending champions Mumbai Indians are reportedly retaining Hardik Pandya and Krunal Pandya apart from the obvious choice of skipper Rohit Sharma as the three to form the core of their side. Being an uncapped player Krunal, who was a crucial cog in Mumbai’s wheel last season, would come in cheap.
With the IPL franchises having just one more day to submit their list of retained players ahead of the mega-auction that is scheduled to take place on January 27 and 28, there are numerous rumours doing the rounds. The latest one has been that of Mumbai Indians retaining Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya and Krunal Pandya in all likelihood.
"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 the third capped player. Also, Krunal was an exceptional performer last year," said a senior BCCI official as quoted by PTI.
Despite Krunal taking 10 wickets and scoring 243 runs last season, fans could be in for a real shock if Mumbai decides against retaining none of either Kieron Pollard and Jasprit Bumrah, who had 374 runs and 20 wickets between them. However, sources have also informed that the duo are likely to be included in the ‘Right to Match’ cards by Mumbai.
“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.
“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)," the official further added.