Former Australian all-rounder Tom Moody raised doubts about Mumbai Indians (MI) captain Hardik Pandya‘s retention value ahead of the IPL 2025 auction. Franchises must submit their retention lists by October 31, before the mega auction, likely in November.
The top retained player earns ₹18 crore, while the second and third retentions are valued at ₹14 crore and ₹11 crore, respectively, with the cycle repeating for the fourth and fifth retentions if teams choose to retain that many. Moody discussed MI’s retention strategies with ESPNcricinfo:
“The way that things panned out in the last edition of the IPL, he would be, I think, a little bit disillusioned with what happened over the last 6-12 months. I would have Bumrah and Suryakumar Yadav in the 18-crore bracket, and Hardik at 14.”
“Leaving is up to him or you can put it down to his performance, form and fitness. And when you dissect all of those areas with Hardik Pandya, does he deserve to be an 18 crore player? Is he worth?.”
“If you’ve got to be an 18 crore player, you’ve got to be a genuine match-winner and do it regularly. Hardik Pandya, through his trials and tribulations over the last edition of the IPL was struggling with both fitness and performance,” he added.
Hardik transferred from Gujarat Titans (GT) to MI before last year’s IPL and became the team’s captain. However, he had a disappointing season, averaging just 18 with the bat and 35.18 with an economy rate over 10 with the ball, leading MI to finish last in the standings with only four wins out of 14 matches.
“How many matches has he won with his batting?”- Tom Moody comments on Ishan Kishan
Tom Moody also raised concerns about wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan’s value and whether his performances justify a potential retention price of ₹11 or ₹14 crore. Kishan had a disappointing IPL 2024, scoring just 320 runs at an average below 23, with only one half-century despite opening the batting.
“I look at Ishan Kishan and think he’s a fantastic and exciting player, but he can be very inconsistent. How many matches has he won with his batting? That’s a crucial question. If you’re considering retaining him for around ₹14 crore, will you see a good return in performance? They will need to make some tough decisions,” Moody stated.
“They’ve faced challenges at the auction table in recent years, becoming overly loyal in some cases and trying to retain players, which has cost them significantly. Ishan Kishan and Jofra Archer are classic examples, both coming at a high price. Did they deliver the expected return?” he added.
Kishan has been with the MI franchise since 2018 and played a key role in their back-to-back titles in 2019 and 2020. However, he has not averaged over 33 in any of the last four seasons since 2021.
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