IPL 2025: Former SRH Coach Questions if Hardik Pandya Deserves to be Rs 18 Crore Retention For Mumbai Indians

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Former Sunrisers Hyderabad head coach Tom Moody is unsure if Hardik Pandya deserves to be the top retention pick for Mumbai Indians at Rs 18 Crore ahead of the IPL 2025 Mega Auction.

Pandya returned to Mumbai Indians from Gujarat Titans in a cash-only trade deal before the IPL 2024 season, and the star India all-rounder was also named skipper of the franchise, replacing Rohit Sharma in the role.

While he earned a lot of flak from the fans for taking over the captaincy, it worsened as the season progressed with Mumbai Indians finishing at the bottom of the points table in IPL 2024.

Despite the lacklusture IPL outing, Hardik earned a call up to the Indian T20 World Cup squad, and produced some match-winning performances in the country run to the trophy, earning all the supporting from his doubters.

However, there is still doubts over his IPL future with Mumbai Indians, who possibly have two more candidates for captaincy. Former Australian cricketer Moody has suggested Pandya will be retained, but feels two other match-winners will be the top picks for the franchise.

Moody felt Jasprit Bumrah and Suryakumar Yadav will be the Rs 18 crore players for Mumbai Indians as the regular match-winners over Hardik, who he feels has had his struggles. He also felt Tilak Varma will also be retained by MI.

"I would have Bumrah and Suryakumar Yadav at 18, and Hardik at 14. (Leaving) is up to him or you can put it down to his performance, form and fitness," Moody said on ESPN Cricinfo.

"And when you dissect all of those areas with Hardik Pandya, does he deserve to be an 18 crore player? Is he worth? If you've got to be an 18 crore player, you've got to be a genuine match-winner and do it regularly.

"Hardik Pandya, through his trials and tribulations over the last edition of the IPL was struggling with both fitness and performance. Tilak Varma absolutely."

Moody is also doubtful if Rohit would be keen on being retained after what transpire ahead of the 2024 season, when he was replaced as captain by Hardik, and how the season panned out overall.

"The way that things panned out in the last edition of the IPL, he (Rohit Sharma) would be, I think, a little bit disillusioned with what happened over the last 6-12 months," Moody added.

Moody also questioned young wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan's place in the team, saying that though he is "terrific and exciting", he is also "very hot and cold". Kishan, who was bought for Rs 15.25 Crore in 2022, scored 320 runs in 14 games last season, with just two fifties.

"I look at Ishan Kishan, and I think 'look he's a terrific player and is exciting. But also runs very hot and cold. How many matches has he won out of his bat; that's a question you've got to ask. If you are paying him around 14 crore for retention, are you going to get the return from a performance point of view? They will have to make some hard decisions," Moody said.