Former India cricketer Virender Sehwag has shared his thoughts on whether Hardik Pandya should be retained by the Mumbai Indians (MI) for IPL 2027 or not. This comes after, under Hardik Pandya’s captaincy, MI was eliminated from the race for the playoffs in the ongoing IPL 2026.
Currently, the Mumbai Indians are 9th at the IPL 2026 points table with 4 wins from 12 games and 8 points to their name. Hardik Pandya has not played in the last two games due to back spasms, but he is likely to return to the MI side for their last two games.
Former India opener Virender Sehwag believes Hardik should be released from the franchise if the rumors are true.
As Hardik stays absent from the Mumbai Indians squad, reports of disagreements between him and certain players have surfaced. Though Sehwag does not believe all of these rumors are accurate, he believes the franchise should release Hardik if that is the case.
"If you just talk about cricket, then retain him. But then you have all these rumors, which I'm not sure are true, about some dressing-room tension or off-field issues. If that is true, release him. If false, based on cricket, he must be retained because he is a top-quality player," Sehwag said on Cricbuzz.
He also mentioned that, personally, he would like to retain Hardik.
"Irrespective of the rumors, I will retain him. You can always put an end to that. Those dressing-room differences, if true, can be settled. Because you have to play as a team. And Hardik is more valuable as a player. Mumbai Indians need him," he said.
Sehwag feels Hardik is a player whose actual value is the figure Pant received and not his current salary of Rs 16 crore. Rishabh Pant is the most expensive player in IPL history, as Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) bought him in the IPL 2025 mega auction for INR 27 crores.
"Remember, he used to play well even when he was not the captain of the Mumbai Indians. There were rumors even then. But I would still retain him. In fact, Rs 16.35 crore is very little. He is a Rs 27 crore player," he added.
