Retentions: All you need to know about the Mumbai franchise

Since the very beginning, Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah’s name was fixed as the players themselves had no problem whatsoever. It’s true that Bumrah could have earned a lot more if the Indian pacer would have taken part in the auction but of course there were no questions of leaving the blue franchise. The confusion was between Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan. For the majority of the time it was clear that Mumbai was going to retain Ishan Kishan as they could not manage Suryakumar for that fee.

There was a twist in the end as Suryakumar was retained and Ishan Kishan will now be a part of the new franchise. There are so many teams that will look for a top order wicket-keeper batsman and Ishan will now be in the radar of almost all the franchises.

Along with Rohit, Bumrah and Suryakumar, Mumbai has also retained Kieron Pollard for the upcoming Indian T20 League. Kieron who has been in the team since 2010 is the longest serving player of the franchise. Picking him ahead of Quinton De Kock, Trent Boult was a very big call but the West Indian has proved time and time again that he can win games for Mumbai with both bat and bowl and the Mumbai franchise needs an all-rounder like him as they have let the likes of Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya leave the franchise.

Mumbai has 48 crores left in their purse for the auction. They will try to bring some players back but it won’t be an easy task. Regarding the retention, their co-owner Mr. Akash Ambani said, “Retention is the hardest part of any IPL year, especially when you're approaching a mega auction, you have to decide the four players who you get to keep”. He added, “I just want to thank each and every player that has represented Mumbai Indians in the last four years. It’s been a pleasure to have them all in the team. Believe me when I say it, it’s been one of the hardest decisions that we have made”.

Mumbai always builds the best team on paper. The 5-times-champions scout their talent really well and something like that is very important in order to win tournaments. Expect them to do something like that this year as well.