MI Retention List: Which 4 Players May Mumbai Indians Retain Ahead of IPL 2025 Auction?

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Mumbai Indians (MI) ended their IPL 2024 league stage campaign with a defeat to Lucknow Super Giants at home, resulting in a last-place finish for the second time in the recent three seasons.

The five-time champions, who reached as far as the qualifier 2 last season, were keen to bounce back and get back to challenging for the title again. And to achieve that, Mumbai Indians traded in former player Hardik Pandya in a cash-only deal from Gujarat Titans.

Ahead of the 2024 IPL Auction, MI had retained the core of the squad and added Pandya before heading into the auction to replace Cameron Green, who was traded in a cash-only deal to Royal Challengers Bengaluru.

However, Pandya’s arrival had a mixed response at first and then turned sour when the franchise announced that the all-rounder replace the most successful captain Rohit Sharma as the skipper for the 2024 season.

The change in leadership didn’t go down well with the fans and also some players in the squad as the reaction on social media showed dismay at the decision. The season also ended on a sour note. Now, MI will be tasked with building a squad around their new skipper.

IPL 2025 auction will be a mega like in 2022, when MI were forced to release several players forcibly, including Hardik, Ishan Kishan, Krunal Pandya and many more, but they had retained Rohit, Jasprit Bumrah, Kieron Pollard and Suryakumar Yadav.

Like the last mega auction, teams are reportedly being allowed only four retentions. But, there are also reports that the franchise owners have requested the BCCI to allow each team up to 8 retentions.

While there is no official confirmation on how many retentions will be allowed ahead of IPL 2025 Mega Auction, it is very likely that a minimum of 4 players can be retained by each team. Plus, there could also be a Right To Match (RTM) card available for every team.

If only 4 players are allowed to be retained, then MI may have to make some tough calls on who to release and retain ahead of the next auction as they look to assemble a squad that could see them challenging in the next few seasons.

Which 4 players may Mumbai Indians retain ahead of IPL 2025 Auction?

There are several players who MI would like to retain, but will be forced to release many ahead of the IPL 2025 Mega Auction which could take place before the next season anywhere between December 2024 and February 2025.

Hardik Pandya as the captain is likely to be the first retention for MI. But who among the likes of Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Jasprit Bumrah, Tim David and Rohit Sharma among others will join the skipper in retention?

Suryakumar Yadav, who is the number one choice in a T20 side, is likely to be the next pick alongside Jasprit Bumrah, who is irreplaceable in any team. So, these three are likely to the be the Indian players who may be retained by MI before the next auction.

Former captain Rohit Sharma’s time may have ended at the franchise, but several other Indian stars may be looked at during the auction. MI may also opt against retaining overseas players as none of the current lot have been consistent.

With only three Indian capped players allowed to be retained, MI may look to buy back Ishan Kishan at the auction like in 2022. They may also look to do the same with Tilak Varma. If there is a RTM going to be available, then these two could be immediate picks if there is no bidding war.

Then there is also someone like Tim David and Gerald Coetzee, who could be a tempting choices, but MI may look at overseas players also at the auction. In Mega Auction, the price is not blown out like the mini auction. So, let's see the possible retention list of the Mumbai Indians:

MI Retention List 2025

• Hardik Pandya - retained
• Suryakumar Yadav - retained
• Jasprit Bumrah - retained
• Tilak Varma - RTM