Five-time Indian Premier League (IPL) champions Mumbai Indians (MI) on Thursday announced the retention of five key players ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction. The core players include Jasprit Bumrah (Rs 18 crore), Hardik Pandya (Rs 16.35 crore), Suryakumar Yadav (Rs 16.35 crore), Rohit Sharma (Rs 16.3 crore) and Tilak Varma (Rs 8 crore), with 31-year old Hardik set to lead the team as captain in the upcoming IPL 2025.

MI has been home to top order batter and former skipper Rohit Sharma since 2011, ace pace Jasprit Bumrah since 2013, one of the most versatile T20 batters Suryakumar Yadav for nine IPL editions, all-rounder Hardik Pandya across eight campaigns, and talented middle order batter Tilak Varma since 2022. These players, known for their outstanding performance and commitment, have been central to MI's success and are set to bring renewed focus, energy, and dedication to the team in line with MI values.

While Rohit, Jasprit, Suryakumar and Hardik have been the pillars of multiple title-winning campaigns for MI, consistently contributing to the team’s dominance in the league. Southpaw Tilak too has risen as one of the brightest young talents in the IPL,  bringing fresh energy and skill to the field. Further these core players have also built a deep bond with fans, who eagerly support their journey every season.
Further subsequent to the franchise disappointing finish in tenth place in IPL 2024 (second time in last three seasons), MI have earlier also brought back Mahela Jayawardene as Head Coach for IPL 2025. The former Sri Lankan captain Mahela who first stint with MI was way back in 2017 resulted in instant success for the franchise. Alongside Rohit, Mahela formed a formidable duo and guided MI to the helm of IPL with three titles (2017, 2019 and 2021), before the later left the role in 2022 and was promoted to become the franchise's Global Head of Cricket to oversee the progress of MI's global teams across different leagues.

Akash Ambani, Mumbai Indians team owner on the occasion said, “We have always believed that the strength of a family lies in its core and this belief has been reinforced during the course of recent events. We are thrilled that the strong legacy of MI will be carried forward by Jasprit, Surya, Hardik, Rohit and Tilak - players who have become synonymous with our team and the brand of cricket we stand for. In the past month, the MI core group, along with our coaching staff, have come together and worked closely to establish a shared vision for MI. This unified effort reinstates MI’s commitment to building strong trust and ownership amongst our core group, our fans & other stakeholders. We will strive to continue playing the passionate brand of cricket everyone expects from us.”

MI which has spent a hefty amount of Rs 75 crore out of Rs 120 crore for retaining the five core players will now have been left with only 45 crore to build a strong team for the IPL 2025 season and one Right-to-match for an uncapped player.

Rohit, who is MI’s most capped player in IPL history, was ecstatic at being part of the team for the 15th edition in a row. Ahead of the third Test Match against the visiting New Zealand side to be played at the iconic Wankhede Stadium, which is also the home base of MI, the current Indian skipper Rohit in a video statement said, “Thrilled to be part of Mumbai Indians again. I played so much cricket here. This is the place where I have started my cricket career. So, this city is very, very special and I am happy to be here”.

The 37 year-old hitman under whom MI emerged champions in  2013, 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2020, further backed the  team owners decision to retain five capped India players and added, "You know the players that are representing the national team at the highest level should get the preference to be part of the core retention.”

Hardik Pandya who lead the MI team for the second time in a row too was excited to be retained by the five-time champions and thanked the franchise and its fans for their support over the years and in a video statement said, "I think I have received a lot of love back, means the world to me. My journey started here and you know everything that I have achieved in my life has been part of Mumbai Indians."

Further he was happy with the key retention of the team with whom he has fond memories over the years and added, "We are five fingers but one fist, that's how I look at it. We are going to come all guns blazing and will back each other no matter what happens.”

IPL 2025 Retentions Overview:

While five times IPL Champions Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings along with first edition winners Rajasthan Royals and maiden champions Gujarat Titans have gone ahead in splurging big bucks in retaining key players including their captains ahead of the IPL Mega Auction, over all the IPL 2025 retentions have produced quite a few surprises for the cricket pundits and the franchises fans at large. Infact three major captains Rishabh Pant (Delhi Capitals), KL Rahul (Lucknow Super Giants ) and Shreyas Iyer (defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders) have not been retained by their respective franchises despite a reasonably good performance at large. Punjab Kings too retained just two players.

Full list of retained players and their prices -

Chennai Super Kings: Ruturaj Gaikwad (Rs 18 crore), Matheesha Pathirana (Rs 13 crore), Shivam Dube (Rs 12 crore), Ravindra Jadeja (Rs 18 crore), MS Dhoni (Rs 4 crore)

Purse remaining: Rs 65 crore (out of Rs 120 crore); Right-to-match (RTM): 1

Gujarat Titans: Rashid Khan (Rs 18 crore), Shubman Gill (Rs 16.50 crore), Sai Sudharsan (Rs 8.50 crore), Rahul Tewatia (Rs 4 crore), Shahrukh Khan (Rs 4 crore)

Purse remaining: Rs 69 crore (out of Rs 120 crore); Right-to-match (RTM): 1

Kolkata Knight Riders: Rinku Singh (Rs 13 crore), Varun Chakravarthy (Rs 12 crore), Sunil Narine (Rs 12 crore), Andre Russell (Rs 12 crore), Harshit Rana (Rs 4 crore), Ramandeep Singh (Rs 4 crore)

Purse remaining: Rs 51 crore (out of Rs 120 crore); Right-to-match (RTM): None

Lucknow Super Giants: Nicholas Pooran (Rs 21 crore), Ravi Bishnoi (Rs 11 crore) Mayank Yadav (Rs 11 crore), Mohsin Khan (Rs 4 crore), Ayush Badoni (Rs 4 crore)

Purse remaining for auction: Rs 69 crore (out of Rs 120 crore); Right-to-match (RTM): 1

Mumbai Indians: Jasprit Bumrah (Rs 18 crore), Suryakumar Yadav (Rs 16.35 crore), Hardik Pandya (Rs 16.35 crore), Rohit Sharma (Rs 16.30 crore), Tilak Varma (Rs 8 crore)

Purse remaining for auction: Rs 45 crore (out of Rs 120 crore); Right-to-match (RTM): 1

Punjab Kings: Shashank Singh (Rs 5.5 crore), Prabhsimran Singh (Rs 4 crore)

Purse remaining for auction: Rs 110.5 crore (out of Rs 120 crore); Right-to-match (RTM): 4

Rajasthan Royals: Sanju Samson (Rs 18 crore), Yashasvi Jaiswal (Rs 18 crore), Riyan Parag (Rs 14 crore), Dhruv Jurel (Rs 14 crore), Shimron Hetmyer (Rs 11 crore), Sandeep Sharma (Rs 4 crore)

Purse remaining for auction: Rs 41 crore (out of Rs 120 crore); Right-to-match (RTM): None

Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Virat Kohli (Rs 21 crore), Rajat Patidar (Rs 11 crore), Yash Dayal (Rs 5 crore)

Purse remaining: Rs 83 crore (out of Rs 120 crore); Right-to-match (RTM): 3

Sunrisers Hyderabad: Hersich Klaasen (Rs 23 crore), Pat Cummins (Rs 18 crore), Abhishek Sharma (Rs 14 crore), Travis Head (Rs 14 crore), Nitish Kumar Reddy (Rs 6 crore)

Purse remaining for auction: Rs 45 crore (out of Rs 120 crore); Right-to-match (RTM): 1

Photo Above: MI core players ahead of IPL 2025 mega auction include (L to R) Tilak Varma, former captain Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, captain Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah (Photo courtesy Mumbai Indians)