Harbhajan delivers frank 'Rohit Sharma' message to Mumbai Indians following retention of Surya, Bumrah, and Hardik for IPL 2025

The deadline for submitting player retention lists for the upcoming IPL mega auction is quickly approaching! October 31 at 5 PM is the cut-off time for all ten franchises to finalize their selections. The auction is set to take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Mumbai Indians, who struggled this season, face a tough decision in deciding which marquee players to retain. Will they keep stars like Hardik Pandya, Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, and Jasprit Bumrah? Former player Harbhajan Singh believes Hardik, Rohit, and Suryakumar will be kept, but the big question remains: will Rohit Sharma be among them?

Before IPL 2024, Hardik Pandya joined Mumbai Indians from Gujarat Titans, and he replaced Rohit Sharma as the captain of the five-time winning IPL franchise. This decision did not go down well with fans, as Hardik Pandya was mercilessly booed at all grounds, especially the Wankhede Stadium – the home ground of Mumbai Indians.

“Mumbai Indians is a team that hasn’t played well in the last two to three years. They’ve been a champion team, a very good team, and as far as I know, they will definitely think of building a team for the future. But that doesn’t mean they won’t add experienced players this year. Last year, they made Hardik Pandya captain, and I think he will definitely be retained. Jasprit Bumrah will be retained, Suryakumar Yadav will be retained, and the question remains whether Rohit Sharma will be retained," Harbhajan Singh told Star Sports.

Rohit Sharma was not at his best during IPL 2024 as he returned with just 417 runs in 14 games at an average of 32.08 and a strike rate of 150. Rohit's numbers were boosted by a 105-run knock, otherwise, he had a very underwhelming season by his standards.

However, Rohit led India to the T20 World Cup triumph earlier this year, and now it might just prompt Mumbai Indians to retain the maverick player, who has led the franchise to five IPL title wins.

Harbhajan Singh said that since Rohit Sharma has just won the T20 World Cup, he should definitely be retained by the franchise. The former India off-spinner also opined that Tilak Sharma or Nehal Wadhera can be retained as well by the franchise.

"He has just won the World Cup as a captain, so I think he should be retained, and he will be. That will make four players, and if there’s a fifth player, then Tilak Varma will be retained," said Harbhajan Singh.

"Tilak Varma is one of those players who will be very useful for Mumbai Indians in the future to win matches. When it comes to bowling, I don’t think there’s anyone else they would want to retain, so Nehal Wadhera could be a good option for them. He is an uncapped player, so he should be picked," he added.

Speaking of retention rules, every franchise can retain a total of 6 players from their existing squad. This can be either via retention or by using the Right to Match (RTM) option.

It is at the discretion of the IPL franchise to choose their combination for Retentions and RTMs. The 6 retentions / RTM’s can have a maximum of 5 capped players (Indian & Overseas) and a maximum of 2 uncapped players.