The BCCI rolled out the retention guidelines for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 season last week, and now the ball is in the franchises' court to make the tricky decisions.
Mumbai Indians (MI) are the most talked about franchise as they have Suryakumar Yadav – India’s current T20I captain, Rohit Sharma - the T20 World Cup winning skipper, Hardik Pandya - their designated captain, and senior fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah in their ranks.
It would be interesting to see if MI decide to retain all the star players or let someone go. Moreover, the likes of Ishan Kishan, Tilak Varma and Tim David are also part of the Mumbai squad.
Former SRH head coach Tom Moody shared his views on Mumbai Indians' retention policy and suggested that Suryakumar Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah should be their top priorities for the INR 18 crore bracket, which will leave last season's skipper Hardik for INR 14 pick.
Speaking on ESPNCricinfo, former Australian all-rounder Tom Moody shared his views on Mumbai Indians' retention policy and suggested that Suryakumar Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah should be their first-choice options for the INR 18 crore bracket.
"The way that things panned out in the last edition of the IPL, he would be, I think, a little bit disillusioned with what happened over the last 6-12 months. I would have Bumrah and Suryakumar Yadav in the 18-crore bracket, and Hardik at 14. Leaving is up to him or you can put it down to his performance, form and fitness. And when you dissect all of those areas with Hardik Pandya, does he deserve to be an 18 crore player? Is he worth? If you've got to be an 18 crore player, you've got to be a genuine match-winner and do it regularly. Hardik Pandya, through his trials and tribulations over the last edition of the IPL was struggling with both fitness and performance. Tilak Varma absolutely," Moody said.
According to Moody, who has served SRH as head coach in the past, the five-time champions got caught up a bit too much in showing loyalty towards a player in the last couple of auctions.
He cited the example of wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan, who was paid a hefty amount of INR 15.25 crore in IPL 2022.
"They've had a little bit of problem at the auction table last couple of years. They've gotten caught up in a way too loyal in some cases and tried to retain, or get players back into their squad, which has cost them dearly. Classic examples were Ishan Kishan and Jofra Archer, both coming at a heavy price. Did they get the return? I look at Ishan Kishan and I think ‘look he’s a terrific player and is exciting. But also runs very hot and cold. How many matches has he won out of his bat; that's a question you've got to ask. If you're paying him around 14 crore for retention, are you going to get the return from a performance point of view? They will have to make some hard decisions," Moody remarked.
Talking about Rohit, he was sacked as captain by the franchise management ahead of the IPL 2024 season. Hardik, who was traded in from Gujarat Titans, was handed the leadership duties.
Tom Moody suggested the MI management to communicate with Rohit Sharma and learn his intentions before signing him back through the RTM card.
"Hardik, Bumrah, Surya and Tilak are a good 4 to retain. And look at Rohit Sharma as to what his intentions are and then use a Right to Match option. You don't know what those conversations are going to be," he concluded.
