Virender Sehwag feels that on current form only two Mumbai Indians players will be retained by the franchise, and Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya aren’t them.
Struggling at the bottom of the points table in IPL 2024, Mumbai Indians could well do away with both Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya for the next season, feels Virender Sehwag. The IPL 2025 mega auctions are scheduled to be held later this year, and with all 10 franchises having the liberty to retain players of their choice, next year could see MI enter IPL without Rohit and Hardik following their flop show for the franchise this season.
Have we seen the last of Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya for Mumbai Indians in IPL?(PTI)
Hardik, MI’s new captain, has been completely out of it, going back to MI’s first game of the season and has done little to improve, scoring 200 runs and picking 11 wickets. Rohit on the other hand, started the IPL well, slamming his second century, but soon tapered off. Such has been Rohit’s decline that the former MI captain’s form has come under severe scrutiny and become a headache for Team India ahead of the T20 World Cup. And with both Rohit and Hardik battling poor form amid the whole captaincy transfer saga, Sehwag believes the only two players MI can count on at the moment for next year’s IPL are Suryakumar Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah.
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“Tell me something. Having Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Aamir Khan in one film won’t guarantee a hit. Will it? You will have to perform, right? You need a good script. Similarly, all these big names will have to come together and perform on the ground. Rohit Sharma scored one century and MI lost. Where are the rest of the performances?” Sehwag told Cricbuzz.
“Ishan Kishan played the entire season and he couldn’t last beyond the Powerplay. Only two names are certainties at this stage for MI – Jasprit Bumrah and Suryakumar Yadav. They will be the top two names retained. And if it then boils down to the third or 4th option, we will see.”
Tiwary resonates with Sehwag
Sehwag’s sentiments were echoed by former India batter Manoj Tiwary, who urged the MI team management to look at either Bumrah or SKY as their next captain. Bumrah has captained India in a Test match against England and three T20Is against Ireland, while Suryakumar was appointed captain in a T20I series against Australia and in South Africa shortly after last year’s World Cup.
Bumrah has taken 20 wickets and is second on the list of Orange Cap, while Suryakumar has peeled off 345 runs including a century. Investing in either one of the two is the right move for MI, as Tiwary is confident Rohit won’t return for another season.
“I am also looking at Bumrah and SKY as the two players who will be retained by Mumbai Indians. No one beyond them, and no foreign players either. Tim David has not lived up to the hype. My advice to the management would be to retain just two players – Suryakumar Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah – and make one of the two captains. I am not keeping Rohit either because, looking at him, it appears he doesn’t want to be retained,” added Tiwary.
