Mumbai Indians (MI) managed a miracle of sorts as they managed to retain their core of Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, and Suryakumar Yadav and added Tilak Varma as well all within the INR 75 Cr limit ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction.

Jasprit Bumrah was the first retention and was paid INR 18 Cr. Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya each were retained for INR 16.35 Cr, while Rohit Sharma was retained for INR 16.30 Cr. Tilak Varma, the final retention for MI cost them INR 8 Cr.

MI's senior management, including Mahela Jayawardene, considered paying Rohit, Bumrah, Hardik, and Suryakumar similar amounts, but the players decided on the retention order themselves.

As per an ESPNcricinfo report, Jayawardene, together with Mumbai's senior management, including owner Akash Ambani, met with the players in early October to discuss their disappointing IPL 2024 performance, in which the five-time winners came last.

During this time, the players and management held two meetings. The goal was to freely discuss how the previous season had gone. The players in question were also invited to clarify any concerns they had before the retentions were completed.

Suryakumar Yadav wanted to know if MI had plans of making him captain in the future as he had leadership aspirations now that he was India’s permanent T20I captain. However, reportedly MI said that Hardik Pandya becoming captain was a long-term plan by them.

The franchise is said to have questioned Suryakumar whether he had any requirements before retaining him and also stated that they couldn't promise him anything.  However, Suryakumar Yadav chose to remain with MI.

The senior group was also informed that Hardik Pandya would be retained as captain for the IPL 2025.

Rohit, Hardik, and Suryakumar all agreed that Bumrah deserved both the highest retention and the highest price. Rohit was also pleased to be retained as the fourth player behind Bumrah, Suryakumar, and Hardik, despite having retired from T20Is.

The franchise also decided to give the MI fans clarity about the future where the team was headed in to avoid losing a loyal fan base after the reaction they got last season.

(ESPNCricinfo report)