Mumbai Indians to Release Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya Next IPL Season, Says Virender Sehwag

Virender Sehwag, former Indian cricketer, has sparked debate by suggesting the Mumbai Indians (MI) might release both Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya ahead of the IPL 2025 season. This comes after MI’s disappointing performance in IPL 2024.

Hardik Pandya, appointed captain this year, failed to find form, scoring only 200 runs and taking 11 wickets. While Rohit Sharma started strong with a century, his performance dipped in the later stages.

The former Indian opener believes only Suryakumar Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah are dependable for MI moving forward. Bumrah, currently second in the Purple Cap race with 20 wickets, and Suryakumar, who scored a century and 345 runs, have been MI’s bright spots.

Sehwag told Cricbuzz, “Just having big stars like Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, and Aamir Khan in one film doesn’t mean it will be a hit. They need to perform well and have a good script. Similarly, in cricket, all the big players need to perform together on the field. For example, Rohit Sharma scored a century, but MI still lost because the rest of the team didn’t perform.”

“Ishan Kishan played the whole season but didn’t do well after the Powerplay. Only two players are sure to be kept by MI now: Jasprit Bumrah and Suryakumar Yadav. They’re the top two. For the third or fourth spot, we’ll wait and see.”

There were reports that Rohit Sharma himself isn’t willing to stay with Mumbai Indians in the next few seasons. Either he will take retirement from the IPL or will likely go under the hammer in the IPL 2025 mega auction.