Former Indian cricketer Harbhajan Singh believes that skipper Hardik Pandya is going to be definitely retained for Mumbai Indians (MI) before the mega auctions of the Indian Premier League 2025, which are set to be held next year. He also thinks Rohit Sharma to be retained by the Mumbai franchise as India won the 2024 T20 World Cup under his captaincy.
“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,” Harbhajan said on Star Sports.
Harbhajan also shared his views on the retention strategy of MI before the mega auctions. He mentioned that paying Tilak Verma would not be any issue. Apart from many others, he chose Hardik Pandya as his top choice for retention.
“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. 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.
