Mumbai Indians have decided to retain Hardik Pandya as their captain for the next edition of the Indian Premier League. The five-time champions have retained him for Rs 16.35 crore and is the third retention among five players ahead of the mega auction.
For the unversed, Jasprit Bumrah is the top retention of MI for Rs 18 crore while apart from Hardik, even Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav have been retained for Rs 16.35 crore. The fifth retention is Tilak Varma and he will earn Rs 8 crore at least in the next edition of the IPL.
After being retained as player and captain, Hardik Pandya was delighted recalling his journey as a player with the franchise almost a decade ago. He also stated that in everything he has achieved in his life, Mumbai Indians played a crucial role in it.
"I mean, it's been fantastic. I think, I have received a lot of love and that means the world to me. The reason being as I have always mentioned, my journey started here and you know everything that I have achieved in my life has been part of Mumbai Indians and playing again. You know, every year is a special year and I think, you know, this is even going to be a special, more special year," Hardik said.
"We remember as a group in 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2020. I think, all our fans know what happened on those years and we are going to come back in 2025 even stronger than that," the MI skipper added. For the unversed, Mumbai Indians couldn't make it to the playoffs in Hardik's comeback season earlier this year and he will be eager to turn the tables around this time. It was a season filled with controversy as well for the five-time champions and all eyes will be on Hardik and Rohit yet again.
