Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma, who was retained by the franchise ahead of the mega auction in IPL 2022, said it was “heart-breaking” not to be able to hold on to their entire core group of cricketers. MI retained four cricketers – the maximum allowed to each franchise ahead of the mega auction including Rohit. The other three were Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav, Kieron Pollard. But MI were not able to hold the likes of Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Trent Boult, who have been instrumental in their success in last few seasons of the IPL.
Rohit termed this year’s retention as the “toughest” for Mumbai Indians and said releasing “gun-players” of their squad was a very hard decision.
“As you all know, it was going to be the toughest retention for Mumbai Indians this year. We have had solid players, absolutely gun players in our squad and to release them is absolutely heart-breaking,” Rohit said on Star Sports during the IPL retention which took place on Tuesday.
Rohit, who was retained for 16 crore, did not name any particular player but he gave enough indications to suggest he was keen on holding on to the likes of Kishan, Pandya brothers and Boult.
“They have done some amazing work for this franchise, created a lot of memories. So, to let them go was really tough. Four players including myself – hopefully we can form a good core and create a solid team around us,” Rohit said.
MI, however, will have a chance to buy the released players back when the IPL mega auction take place before the 15th edition of the tournament.
“The immediate goal is to form a solid team and that will start at the auction. We’ll keep an eye on who we can get in the auction, find the right spot for the right players,” Rohit said.
Promoted
IPL’s most successful captain did not forget to commend MI scouts, who have been doing a great job for the franchise in finding raw talent.
“So yeah, our scouts are doing a fantastic job, watching talents in and outside India. I have faith and belief in them. They have done an amazing job over the years finishing talent. Hopefully we can find some players that can form a good core,” added Rohit.
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