IPL 2025: Hardik Pandya to continue as Mumbai Indians captain, says 'means the world to me' (WATCH)

Mumbai Indians (MI) have confirmed that Hardik Pandya will continue as team captain for IPL 2025, despite a challenging IPL 2024 season that saw the team finish last for only the second time in the tournament's history.

Sunita Iyer

First Published Oct 31, 2024, 7:46 PM IST | Last Updated Oct 31, 2024, 7:46 PM IST

On Thursday, MI revealed their retained players, including star bowlers and batsmen such as Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav, Rohit Sharma, and Tilak Varma, who will join Hardik in the core team lineup.

In a noteworthy retention strategy, MI managed to secure these key players for a combined cost of Rs 75 crore, leaving the franchise with Rs 45 crore to complete the team at the upcoming mega auction. Bumrah emerged as the top retention for MI at Rs 18 crore, marking his highest retention value in his IPL career.

Hardik and Suryakumar were retained for Rs 16.35 crore each, while Rohit secured a retention value of Rs 16.30 crore. Tilak rounded out the core team with a retention value of Rs 8 crore.

Rohit, who retired from the IPL format, expressed satisfaction with his fourth position in the retention lineup. "Since I have retired from the format, I think this is the perfect spot for me," Rohit stated, emphasizing the importance of giving preference to players representing India at the highest level.

Hardik shared his thoughts in a video posted by MI, reflecting on his long-standing connection with the franchise. "It means the world to me, reason being, as I've always mentioned, my journey started here. Everything I've achieved in my life has been part of Mumbai Indians. Playing again, every year is a special year, and this year is going to be an even more special year. We remember as a group 2013, 2015, 2017, '19 and '20. I think all of our fans know what happened on those years and we are going to come back in 2025 even stronger than that. You lose and win on the ground," he said.

"Five people who have cherished good memories together. We are five fingers but one fist. That's how I look at it. We are going to come all guns blazing. Brotherhood, friendship, and at the same point of time we are going to back each other no matter what happens," he added.

The decision to retain Hardik as captain follows a challenging 2024 season, where he managed 216 runs at a strike rate of 143 and took 11 wickets with a high economy of 10.75. Despite being traded from Gujarat Titans and taking over Rohit's role as captain, Hardik faced criticism, including jeers from home fans at Wankhede Stadium.

MI owner Akash Ambani expressed confidence in the core team. "We are thrilled that the strong legacy of MI will be carried forward by Jasprit, Surya, Hardik, Rohit, and Tilak. This unified effort reinstates MI's commitment to building strong trust and ownership amongst our core group, our fans, and other stakeholders," Ambani stated.

Looking ahead to IPL 2025, MI has also announced the return of Mahela Jayawardene as head coach, signaling a fresh approach as the franchise aims to reclaim its legacy.

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