NEW DELHI: Mumbai Indians have finalised their list of retentions and the Indian Premier League (IPL) giants will be retaining five cricketers ahead of the mega auction next month. Jasprit Bumrah will be the top retained player, Hardik Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav will get equal pay, Rohit Sharma will be the side’s fourth retention and Tilak Verma takes the fifth spot.
It’s reliably learnt that the MI management and the senior players had a discussion on the retentions and everyone was of the opinion that Bumrah is the Most Valuable Player (MVP) and deserves the top price tag.
“It was a no brainer actually. Bumrah is not just MVP of Mumbai Indians but of the Indian Premier League. All players and members of the management were of that opinion and it was a very straightforward decision to have him as the top retained player,” says a source close to developments.
Pandya will continue to lead the side as the five-time champions look to return to winning ways in the cash-rich league under coach Mahela Jayawardene. The Sri Lankan, returning back to the MI set-up after helping them set-up backroom staffs in different leagues around the world, played a big role in the entire retention process and reiterated that the players need to play for pride.
“Mahela played a very crucial role in the entire process. His message was clear – MI need to play for pride again and can’t afford a repeat of the previous few editions,” adds the source.
Rohit Sharma, meanwhile, has agreed to be the fourth retention as he has just retired from the T20 format and now wants to be the side’s guiding light in the upcoming editions.
The Mumbai Indians management had a discussion with the players on this arrangement and everyone were in line with this.
All efforts are being directed at building the camaraderie in the camp and retaining five players gives MI a very good opportunity to build a strong squad around this core. The deadline for teams to submit their list of retained players ends today and the available players will go under the hammer during the two-day mega auction in last week of November.