Mumbai Indians (MI) will in all likelihood retain four players, including their former skipper Rohit Sharma, ahead of the Indian Premier League’s (IPL) ‘Big Auction’ in November — according to a report in The Indian Express.
All-rounder Hardik Pandya, who replaced Rohit as the MI skipper before the start of 2024 season, is also expected to be retained by the five-time IPL champions besides Jasprit Bumrah and Suryakumar Yadav.
The deadline to submit the list of retained players is October 31.
According to the IPL regulations announced earlier by the BCCI, a franchise can retain six players, with a maximum of five capped players (Indian and overseas) and a maximum of two uncapped players.
Any player who hasn’t played international cricket or had a central contract with the BCCI in the last five years is considered uncapped.
1st retained player: Rs 18 crore
2nd retained player: Rs 14 crore
3rd retained player: Rs 11 crore
4th retained player: Rs 18 crore
5th retained player: Rs 14 crore
The cost of retaining Rohit, Hardik, Bumrah and Surya will lighten the MI purse of Rs 120 crore by Rs 61 crore.
The report also mentions that MI will target wicketkeeper-batsman Ishan Kishan at the auction and use the Right to Match (RTM) card for Australian big-hitter Tim David.
