Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Mumbai Indians (MI) has once again back into making headlines as the team retained it's key players ahead of the mega auction.
As the retention list was made official by the franchise, the debate on who will captain the five-time champion side returned.
The decision to shift leadership from Rohit Sharma to Hardik Pandya in the last season took everyone by surprise. Rumors claiming a rift in the MI camp and Rohit would leave the franchise this year started making rounds.
However, MI management was successful to get their core team after retaining Hardik Pandya, Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Verma.
Earlier, some reports suggested a new contender for the captaincy role.
The franchise after bringing back Mahela Jayawardhane back as the coach wanted Rohit to take charge as the captain. But he was uninterested and advised Suryakumar to be made captain as he is the captain of the Indian T20 side.
Some reports even claimed that Suryakumar wanted captaincy assurance from the franchise before he signed the retention contract.
However, dispelling all the rumors Mumbai Indians put their faith in Pandya once again despite a poor performance in the last season. The franchise on Thursday announced that Hardik Panyda will lead the side in the coming season.
Meanwhile, Rohit Sharma speaking after the retention said that he was "thrilled" to be part of the side.
"I'm thrilled to be part of Mumba Indians yet again. I have played so much cricket in Mumbai, this is the place where I started my cricket career. So this city is very, very special. Obviously, when you play for such a long time, you create so many memories with the team," he said.
Hardik Pandya too was excited to extend his association with the team, "It means the world to me, as I've always mentioned, my journey started here. Everything I've achieved in my life has been a part of Mumbai Indians. Playing again, every year is a special year, and this year is going to be even more special," he said.
The Mumbai-based team had spent Rs 75 crore to retain their core team, with Bumrah being the highest paid player at Rs 18 crore. The team still holds a purse of Rs 45 crore to go into the mega auction.��
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