The deadline day for franchises to announce their retentions turned out to be quite an eventful one. A half-an-hour extension was only the initial wave of exhilaration that the cricket fraternity got treated to. One of the most popular Indian Premier League franchises, Mumbai Indians (MI), in particular, was a franchise on which a lot of eyeballs were fixated.
In a move that did come as a surprise to many, the franchise decided to stick with all-rounder, Hardik Pandya, as their skipper for the 2025 edition of the Indian Premier League. This comes in the wake of a torrid 2024 season where MI recorded their joint-lowest position on the points table, finishing at the very bottom of the table for only the second instance in 17 years.
Hardik, one of the five retainees of MI, will be continuing as the skipper, thereby quashing rumors that were rife regarding the franchise not wanting him to lead the side. In a video released by MI, Hardik expressed his gratitude for being retained. Recounting his roots, he promised the supporters to bring about a significant betterment in performance come the next season.
“It’s been fantastic. I think I have received a lot of love back. It means the world to me, the reason being, as I’ve always mentioned, my journey started here. Everything I’ve achieved in my life has been when I’ve been a part of the Mumbai Indians. Playing again, every year is a special year, and this year is going to be an even more special year. We remember as a group 2013, 2015, 2017, ’19, and ’20. I think all of our fans know what happened in those years and we are going to come back in 2025 even stronger than that. You lose and win on the ground,” Hardik was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo.
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We are five fingers but one fist: Hardik
Besides, Hardik Pandya also highlighted the essence of team spirit and for each player to serve the team with the utmost of unity. Notably, MI have retained their core with Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, and Jasprit Bumrah being retained other than Hardik. Tilak Varma was retained under the “uncapped” category.
“Five people who have cherished good memories together. We are five fingers but one fist. That’s how I look at it. We are going to come all guns blazing. Brotherhood, friendship, and at the same point in time, we are going to back each other no matter what happens,” Hardik concluded.
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