No franchise is going to be more disappointed at seeing the current set of squads being dismantled at the end of the 2021 Indian Premier League (IPL) than Mumbai Indians(MI). With the current group of players that were mostly purchased during the 2018 auction, they have won the title in two of the four seasons and firmly established themselves as the league’s most successful franchise ever. 

It goes without saying that the prospect of some of these players not being part of the Mumbai Indians’ set-up from next will hurt their franchise as the league prepares for the entry of two new teams in 2022 and a mega-auction that is bound to cause a major overhaul in the squads across the league. 

However, in what will come as a respite to many existing franchises, teams will be allowed to retain or have the option to ‘right to match’ (RTM)  a few players in the auction. Former Indian cricket Aakash Chopra has opined that the five-time champions should retain skipper Rohit Sharma and ace fast-bowler Jasprit Bumrah at any cost. 

Speaking on his Youtube channel, Chopra said, “The two obvious names Mumbai Indians should retain are Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah. You can also think of Hardik Pandya, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, and Kieron Pollard. However, Sharma and Bumrah should be the two biggest retentions as franchises can only keep a couple of players ahead of the mega auction.”

There is still no official confirmations from the IPL governing council and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCC) on the number of players that teams will be allowed to retain ahead of the new season. An official confirmation is only expected after the culmination of IPL 2021 next week. 

In 2018, Mumbai Indians had retained Rohit, Bumrah, and Hardik Pandya while using the RTM option on Krunal Pandya and Kieron Pollard.