The speculations around Rohit Sharma's stay at Mumbai Indians (MI) ended on Thursday when the five-time Indian Premier League (IPL) champions picked their former captain among the retained players in the build-up to the mega auction in November.
Rohit, India's current Test and ODI captain, was joined by star all-rounder Hardik Pandya to lead MI's five-player retention list — all capped.
Rohit retired from T20Is after leading India to T20 World Cup triumph in June this year. Meanwhile, Hardik had replaced Rohit as MI skipper ahead of the 2024 season, when the all-rounder shifted his base back to MI after leading Gujarat Titans for two seasons.
Five-time champions MI, who had a forgettable 2024 season as they finished at the bottom of the 10-team table, also retained their 360-degree batsman and India's T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav besides bowling spearhead Jasprit Bumrah.
Tilak Varma became MI's fifth retention.
Here's what MI spent to retain the above-mentioned five players:
Retention 1: Jasprit Bumrah for Rs. 18 crore
Retention 2: Suryakumar Yadav for Rs. 16.35 crore
Retention 3: Hardik Pandya for Rs. 16.35 crore
Retention 4: Rohit Sharma for Rs. 16.30 crore
Retention 5: Tilak Varma for Rs. 8 crore
The sum of the above, Rs. 75 crore, will be deducted from the total auction purse of Rs. 120 crore for IPL 2025.
According to the Player Regulations released by the IPL Governing Council earlier, the franchises were allowed to retain a total of six players from their existing squad (a maximum of five capped players and a maximum of two uncapped players) either via retention or by using the Right to Match (RTM) option during the auction.
