Mumbai Indians is all set to retain its skipper Rohit Sharma along with Pandya brothers, Hardik and Krunal, while under- performing Lasith Malinga will be released by the franchise ahead of the IPL auction on January 27. last date of submission for the player retention is January 4.
“Skipper Rohit Sharma is an automatic retention having led the team to three IPL titles. Hardik Pandya is one of the big match-winners and the interesting third retention would be Krunal Pandya,” a senior BCCI official told.
“Krunal being an uncapped Indian can be retained for only Rs 3 crore instead of Rs 7 crore for third capped player. Also Krunal was an exceptional performer last year,” he added.
It is also learnt that Mumbai Indians are in opinion to buy back Kieron Pollard and Jasprit Bumrah with the ‘Right To Match’ cards. However, the franchise are not too keen to doing the same for Malinga.
The best bowler of IPL history, Malinga has been the part of Mumbai Indians since the beginning. However, in last two Editions, his form dipped considerably, while the young sensation Jasprit Bumrah has taken over as the bowling spearhead of the team.
