Players retained by MI for IPL 2022: Why have Mumbai Indians not retained Hardik Pandya and Ishan Kishan ahead of IPL 2022 auction?

Players retained by MI for IPL 2022: Mumbai Indians have retained a total of four players ahead of IPL 2022 mega auction.

Five-time champions Mumbai Indians have exhausted their limit by retaining four players ahead of IPL 2022 auction. Known for their robust and consistent set of players in the recent years, shortlisting four players would’ve been the most difficult for MI.

With franchises needed to confirm their list of retained names by tonight, Indians added vice-captain Kieron Pollard and batter Suryakumar Yadav ahead of players such as Hardik Pandya, Ishan Kishan, Quinton de Kock and Trent Boult.

Pollard, who has played 178 matches for Indians spanning over a decade now, has been retained as their third player after Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah (confirmed yesterday). Pollard, 34, is their second-highest run-scorer behind Sharma (4,714) scoring 3,771 runs at an average and strike rate of 29.93 and 149.11 respectively with the help of 18 half-centuries.

Players retained by MI for IPL 2022

Yadav, on the other hand, has been Mumbai’s highest run-scorer since joining the franchise for the second time in 2018. In 58 innings across the last four seasons, Yadav’s 1,733 runs have come at an average and strike rate of 32.70 and 137.54 including 12 half-centuries.

In the same period, others batters who have done well are Sharma (1,404), de Kock (1,329), Kishan (1,133) and Hardik Pandya (1,070). Considering the uncertainty around Hardik Pandya’s bowling, it is understandable why MI have picked Yadav ahead of him and Kishan. However, no official rationale for the same has been released as of now.

In the absence of Right To Match cards, the only option for Mumbai to buy back these players is by bidding for them in the auction. Having said that, the same will only be possible if neither of the two new teams sign them before the auction.

With Mumbai retaining four players, they are left with a purse of INR 48 crore to buy the rest of the players in the auction.

IPL 2022 Mumbai team players list – Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Kieron Pollard, Suryakumar Yadav.