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After a disastrous IPL 2024 season, Mumbai Indians are all set for a fresh comeback for the IPL 2025. The franchise has released its retention list, and as per the reports, the franchise is all set to retain Indian Captain Rohit Sharma for IPL 2025. Since Hardik Pandya replaced him as captain last season, the franchise is looking forward to retaining Rohit Sharma and three other key players- Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, and Suryakumar Yadav.
According to a report by The Indian Express, MI plans to buy back wicketkeeper-batsman Ishan Kishan in the upcoming IPL 2025 auction. Still, the choice would be Australian all-rounder Tim David. However, it would be interesting to see how much the franchise has retained Rohit in the team. According to the IPL retention rules, a franchise is eligible to retain a maximum of six players, and one has to be an uncapped player from India.
A Much-Needed Retention of Rohit Sharma for MI
Rohit, who successfully led MI to five IPL titles in 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, and 2020, was replaced and played under the captaincy of Hardik Pandya. However, the team lost most of its league matches and finished bottom of the IPL 2023 table. Moreover, there were reports of a rift between Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya, further fueling his low chances of playing in the upcoming league series.
Moreover, it was earlier reported that Rohit Sharma is set to join Lucknow Super Giants. But with Rohit Sharma's retention reports, MI fans will have a chance to rejoice as they will see their favorite player play. Rohit Sharma has scored 6626 total runs in IPL with an average of 29.72. Since he has had a great cricketing season in different matches this year, it would be interesting to see his performance in the upcoming IPL 2025 season.
Cricketing experts believe that if Rohit Sharma isn’t retained in IPL 2025 by MI, there will be a bidding way among franchises. Harbhajan Singh, who shared the dressing room with him earlier, states, "It will be interesting to see whether he will be retained. If he goes into the auction pool, seeing which team bids for him will be fascinating. I’m sure many teams must be thinking along those lines." The legendary spinner adds, "Rohit Sharma, as a leader and a player, is amazing. He’s a top-quality player, top-quality captain, and leader. He is a proven match-winner. Even at 37, he still has a lot of cricket left in him. If Rohit enters the auction, he will fetch big bucks. It will be exciting to see the auction unfold."
No Clarity Over Mumbai Indians IPL 2025 Captaincy
With the reports of Rohit Sharma's retention in MI for IPL 2025, the captaincy for the season remains unclear. In the last season, Hardik Pandya and the franchise faced a lot of flak from cricket experts and MI fans over the team's poor performance, especially after replacing him with Rohit Sharma.
Since Hardik Pandya is back in form, especially in the recent T20i series against Bangladesh and Suryakumar Yadav is leading the Indian team at present, the franchise may have some options to consider.
