New Delhi, India

On Thursday (Oct 31), all ten IPL franchises released their list of retained players. For Mumbai Indians (MI), the five-time winners retained Jasprit Bumrah, captain Hardik Pandya, Suryakumar Yadav, Rohit Sharma and Tilak Varma. After the retained players list was out, Rohit acknowledged being the fourth retention choice as he feels he is a retired player from T20Is and preference should be given to the top active Indian players.

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In an interview with Jio Cinema, Rohit shared his perspective on the retention lineup and said, "Since I have retired from the [T20] format, I think this is the perfect [retention] spot for me,” Sharma explained. “The players who are representing the national team at the highest level should get the preference. That’s what I believe in, and I am quite happy with it."

List of players retained by Mumbai Indians:

1. Jasprit Bumrah – INR 180 million (INR 18 crore)

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2. Hardik Pandya – INR 163.5 million (INR 16.35 crore)

3. Suryakumar Yadav – INR 163.5 million (INR 16.35 crore)

4. Rohit Sharma – INR 163 million (INR 16.30 crore)

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5. Tilak Varma – INR 80 million (INR 8 crore)

Also read: IPL 2025: LSG owner Sanjiv Goenka's 'team over personal milestones' remark goes VIRAL after KL Rahul's release

Rohit further stressed the city’s sentimental value by speaking highly of his enduring relationship with Mumbai. In this regard, he stated, "I have played so much cricket in Mumbai; this is where I started my cricket career. This city is very, very special. When you play for such a long time, you create so many memories with the team."

MI have struggled in the 2021-24 IPL cycle, finishing at the bottom twice. Thus, Rohit acknowledged the recent challenges and added, "We haven’t had the best of seasons in the last two or three years, but we are quite determined to change that."

MI have confirmed that Hardik will continue to lead the side despite his failures in IPL 2024, where he was constantly trolled by fans for taking over from Rohit.