The captaincy change controversy for MI continues to haunt the franchise. The challenges that arose after the shocking decision refuse to die down.
Latest to come up are reports and analysis that say that Rohit Sharma will soon move out of Mumbai Indians and join a new franchise.
Rohit Sharma and a Potential New IPL Franchise!
While it’s hard to even imagine Rohit Sharma playing for a different IPL franchise, it looks like it’s almost a certainty and only a matter of time.
This is because the permutations and combinations may force Mumbai Indians to take the hard decision of letting Rohit Sharma go. It’s another matter that Sharma, too, might not want to stay in the franchise any longer after what has apparently turned out to be a humiliating turn of events for him in the franchise.
IPL 2025 Mega Auction and MI’s Retention Challenges
IPL is set to have another Mega Auction in 2025. As per the terms of the Mega Auction, all the teams would only be allowed to retain up to 3 Indian players and a single foreign player.
They will have to let go of all their other players, who will enter the mega pool of players for the auction.
MI’s 3 Potential Retentions for IPL 2025 Mega Auction
So considering these stringent conditions, MI doesn’t seem to have much of an option. Hardik Pandya will be its first retention for obvious reasons.
And again, since MI has said that it has its eyes on the future, it will be keen to retain younger players over the aging Rohit Sharma. That said, the second obvious retention would likely be Jasprit Bumrah.
Now, for the third retention spot, there are already two strong contenders: Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan. While the latter has been one of the highest priced players in the history of IPL, the former, Suryakumar, is an emerging star batsman in global cricket.
So with all things considered, it looks like MI might have to bid goodbye to Rohit Sharma ahead of the 2025 Mega Auction. This is of course only a possible scenario, and not a certainty.
There might also be the element of star value, which no other player in MI might be able to match when compared to Rohit Sharma. But if that’s taken out, then seeing Rohit Sharma don a jersey of some other IPL team in IPL 2025 doesn’t seem too farfetched.
Blank Cheque Ready for Sharma!
However, if MI doesn’t retain Rohit Sharma in 2025, it will not be the end of the world for the star batsman. This is because there were many reports of multiple IPL franchises being interested in acquiring Sharma as soon as he was removed as the captain of the MI side.
First, it was Gujarat Titans who asked MI to give them Rohit Sharma in exchange of Hardik Pandya. But MI had denied it that time, and GT had no option but to accept it.
But then there was also a report saying that Delhi Capitals is ready with a blank cheque for Rohit Sharma if he wishes to join them. However, the player purchase window had already closed by the time MI announced the change in captaincy.
Now, some experts have suggested that if Dhoni retires after the 2024 IPL, then Chennai Super Kings may want to pick Rohit Sharma to replace the veteran’s experience as the captain for their side.
Rohit Sharma and the 2025 Mystery!
So finally, the current analysis suggests that Rohit Sharma might leave Mumbai Indians in 2025. But if that really materializes or not – and which franchise Sharma moves into next if it does – is definitely something only time will tell.