The Board of Control for Cricket in India, i.e. BCCI, has recently announced before the mega auction of IPL 2025 that franchises can retain 6 players, which also includes RTM cards. Before the mega auction of the 18th season of IPL, if a team wants to retain a player, then for this the team will have to pay Rs 18-18 crore to two players, Rs 14-14 crore to two players and Rs 11 crore to one player. If an uncapped player is retained then he will have to pay Rs 4 crore. Meanwhile, former Sunrisers Hyderabad head coach Tom Moody has given a very surprising statement and said that Mumbai Indians all-rounder Hardik Pandya does not deserve Rs 18 crore.
“The way things went in the last season of the IPL, I think he (Rohit Sharma) will be a bit disappointed with what’s happened in the last 6-12 months. I’m talking about Jasprit Bumrah and Suryakumar,” ESPNcricinfo quoted Tom Moody as saying. I will keep Yadav at Rs 18 crore and Hardik at Rs 14 crore. It is up to him or you can consider it based on his performance, form and fitness and when you analyze all those areas of Hardik Pandya. If you want to be a 18 crore player, you have to be a real match winner and do it regularly, Hardik Pandya. During his trials and tribulations in the last edition, Tilak Verma could be right there, struggling with both fitness and performance.”
The head coach of the IPL 2016 winning team further explained what kind of strategy MI has adopted in the last few editions, due to which they have got into trouble. He gave the example of Ishan Kishan and Joffra Archer to prove his point. He said, “They have had a bit of trouble in the auction in the last few years. They got too caught up in loyalty in some cases and tried to retain players or bring them back into their team, which cost them dearly. It’s the best. Examples are Ishan Kishan and Joffra Archer, both were bought at huge prices? I look at Ishan Kishan and think, ‘Look, he is a great player and is exciting, but very consistent runs.’ How many matches has he won with his bat? This is the question you have to ask him for his retention. Decisions have to be taken.”