Former India spinner Harbhajan Singh decided to predict the key retentions for five-time IPL champions Mumbai Indians (MI) ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction.
MI didn’t have a good outing in IPL 2024 despite removing Rohit Sharma from captaincy and handing it over to Hardik Pandya. This led to quite a lot of discontent amongst the fans of the franchise and reportedly among players as well. MI lost 10 matches and won only 4 to finish last on the points table.
Keeping the performances of all MI players in mind, Harbhajan Singh, who himself has captained MI and played for them for almost a decade, chose Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, and Suryakumar Yadav as his three key picks for MI’retentionns ahead of IPL 2025 auction.
"Mumbai Indians is a team that hasn't played well in the last two to three years. They've been a champion team, a very good team, and as far as I know, they will definitely think of building a team for the future. But that doesn't mean they won't add experienced players this year. Last year, they made Hardik Pandya captain, and I think he will definitely be retained. Jasprit Bumrah will be retained, Suryakumar Yadav will be retained, and the question remains whether Rohit Sharma will be retained," Harbhajan Singh told Star Sports.
One of the major reasons was former captain Rohit Sharma’s performance, who despite scoring his second IPL century, managed 417 runs in 14 matches at an average of 32.08.
Harbhajan Singh believes, that Rohit Sharma leading India to T20 World Cup win might ensure his retention by MI as well. Another player that MI can retain according to Harbhajan is talented Tilak Varma.
"He has just won the World Cup as a captain, so I think he should be retained, and he will be. That will make four players, and if there's a fifth player, then Tilak Varma will be retained.
Tilak Varma is one of those players who will be very useful for Mumbai Indians in the future to win matches. When it comes to bowling, I don't think there's anyone else they would want to retain, so Nehal Wadhera could be a good option for them. He is an uncapped player, so he should be picked," he added.
