- By Namrata Vijay
- Sun, 29 Sep 2024 01:11 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
IPL 2025 Retention Rules: Ex-India cricketer Aakash Chopra has reckoned that Mumbai Indians will have a long chat with Rohit Sharma about his future ahead of IPL retentions for the next season. He revealed that it would be solely Rohit's decision on his future with the franchise, who are aiming to retain the Indian players before the mega auction.
He made these statements after the BCCI revealed the retention and auction rules for the next season. All the franchises can retain up to six players with retention and the RTM option. The first and the fourth player would be paid a whopping amount of Rs 18 crore whereas the second and the fifth retained player would get Rs 14 crore. The third retained player would be paid Rs 4 crore. If a franchise wants to retain five players then they are supposed to spend Rs 75 crore of their total purse of Rs 120 crore.
During an interaction on Jio Cinema, Aakash Chopra said that he is quite confident that the franchise would have Jasprit Bumrah as their first-choice retention and would get Rs 18 crore and that skipper Hardik Pandya would also get the same amount and would be retained.
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"The most difficult thing is to retain the Indian core. MI have won 5 trophies and CSK have also won 5 trophies. Both of them have had strong Indian cores. Overseas players, you can like-for-replacement. But, Indian players are tougher to get. Can you tell me a like-for-like replacement for Jasprit Bumrah?" Chopra was quoted as saying on Jio Cinema.
"Indian retentions for Mumbai Indians seem straightforward. Hardik, Surya, Bumrah, you have three. After that, I think they will discuss with Rohit Sharma about the next step, I am pretty sure. It’s anybody’s guess after what has transpired. Whether he will stay in Mumbai or go elsewhere, I think it will also be his will. I think that will be a discussion. And then Ishan Kishan or Tilak Varma," he revealed.
Rohit Sharma relinquished the position of captaincy before IPL 2024. The franchise traded Hardik Pandya from Gujarat Titans and this decision surprised the whole cricketing world. There were speculations that there was tension inside MI's dressing room after Rohit was stripped of captaincy. Amidst all the rumors about his position in the team, he still played the whole season for the franchise. At the same time, Hardik faced the wrath of the fans as he was constantly booed and that resulted in them finishing at the last position in the points table.
MI's order of retention?
He also emphasized that it would be quite interesting to watch how the franchise retains its players since Bumrah, Hardik, and India's T20I skipper Suryakumar Yadav are the preferred choices.
They also have players like Tilak Varma and Ishan Kishan, who are one of their best wicket-keeper batters.
"The interesting aspect will be the order of retention. Who will be the first, who will be the second, and all that? Jasprit Bumrah is my No. 1 retention. He will be the first retention in the overall IPL, across all teams. If Bumrah is your first, then you have captain Hardik Pandya. He can be your fourth retention (Rs 18 crore). Then you have India’s T20I captain, he is Suryakumar Yadav. He will become in the Rs 14 crore category. Then you have Rohit Sharma and Tilak Varma. Then there is the wicketkeeper-batter batter in Ishan Kishan, whom you retained for Rs 15 or Rs 15.5 crore. It’s going to be a tough one. Tim David is there. Uncapped Piyush Chawla is there," he concluded.
It should be noted here that the tournament organizers have brought back the uncapped player rule and that would be used for all those Indian players, who haven't played international cricket for five years or have had BCCI central contracts and would be retained by their franchise as an uncapped player for Rs 4 crore.