The guys that the team has kept are like “five fingers but one fist,” Hardik Pandya stated in an address to MI supporters. According to MI, Bumrah, Suryakumar, Hardik, Rohit, and Tilak would be retained.
After the Mumbai Indians revealed their retained list of players for the 2025 IPL, captain Hardik Pandya had a special message for the supporters. The franchise’s official social media account posted a unique video in which Hardik thanked the Mumbai Indians for all of their support and the lessons he has learned from them over the years. “Five fingers but one fist” is how he described the five players who were kept: Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik, Suryakumar Yadav, Rohit Sharma, and Tilak Verma. This demonstrated the strong ties and sense of “brotherhood” that the players have with one another.Together, the five of us have many happy moments that we cherish. We’re one. My perspective is that we are five fingers but one fist. As the franchise paid Hardik Rs 16.35 crore to keep him, he stated in the video, “We are going to come all guns blazing, brotherhood, friendship, and at the same time we are going to back each other no matter what happens.”
“It has been tremendous. I was adored in return. All of my accomplishments in life have been a part of Mumbai Indians. This is going to be an even more memorable year than the others. Together, we recall 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, and 2020. We will return in 2025 even more formidable than before, and I believe that all of our supporters are aware of what transpired over those years.
In 2024, Hardik had a difficult first season as MI captain, as the team finished last in the league. Fans’ reactions to the shift in leadership were divided, and Hardik was jeered in several places. Nevertheless, he improved later in the year and made a substantial contribution to India’s triumphant 2024 T20 World Cup campaign.
“On the ground, you lose and win. It’s merely the planning. I enjoy putting in a lot of effort and being well-prepared, and I believe that God has been very good to me. have placed me in circumstances where I managed to control my emotions, and you realize that something unique has emerged,” Hardik remarked.MI will only be able to use their one Right to Match (RTM) option on an uncapped player during the auction because these five capped players are locked in. MI’s five-player retention will cost them at least INR 75 crore out of their INR 120 crore budget, and maybe more if larger sums were negotiated, even if the retention amounts for each player are still unknown.
