No Hardik Pandya! Virender Sehwag names 3 players Mumbai Indians should retain ahead of IPL mega auction

Mumbai Indians (MI) failed to make it to the playoffs in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 despite a late surge in the UAE leg of the tournament. MI won their last two league games of the season comprehensively but fell short in terms of the net run rate to finish outside the top four and make an early exit from the competition.

Mumbai Indians will be looking to revamp their squad and make some quality additions in the upcoming mega auction ahead of the 2022 edition of the league. The franchises are likely to get a limited amount of retentions ahead of the mega auction and they will have to be wise in making the final decision on who to retain.

Mumbai Indians have a number of match-winners in their ranks and will be looking to retain some of their best players before the mega auction. They had retained captain Rohit Sharma, all-rounder Hardik Pandya and pacer Jasprit Bumrah the last time around.

However, former India opener Virender Sehwag believes Hardik should not be MI’s first-choice retention this time around. Sehwag, who led Delhi Capitals and Punjab Kings in the IPL, named three players who MI should retain ahead of the new season and snubbed Pandya from the list.

“I think I would retain Ishan Kishan, Rohit Sharma, and Jasprit Bumrah. Ishan seems to be in it for the long haul, age is on his side so he can serve you better. If Hardik Pandya doesn’t bowl, I don’t think he would be able to fetch big money at the auction because due to his injury concerns, everyone would think twice,” Sehwag said. 

Sehwag’s comments came after Kishan took the Sunrisers Hyderabad bowlers to the cleaners in MI’s final league game of the season. The young left-hander slammed a brilliant 84 off just 32 balls to power MI to a 42-run win. Sehwag believes MI should retain Kishan over Hardik as he is a top-order batsman and offers more value.

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Sehwag also pointed out concerns regarding Pandya’s bowling. The all-rounder didn’t bowl a single ball in the UAE leg of IPL 2021 and has been struggling with his fitness to return to full-time bowling as an all-rounder.

“Will he bowl or not? If he can declare himself fit and start bowling then teams can buy him at the auction. The kind of performance Ishan Kishan has dished out today, expect many more from him in time to come because is a top-order batsman, unlike Hardik Pandya who bats lower,” said Sehwag.