New Delhi: Former Sunrisers Hyderabad coach Tom Moody has asked if Hardik Pandya is a player whom Mumbai Indians should retain for 18 crores. Moody has also raised the question whether Mumbai will retain Hardik Pandya as a top player. According to the new retention rules of IPL, every franchise has been given the right to retain 6 players which also includes RTM. The top player to be retained will be worth 18 crores and the other 2 retentions will be at 14 and 11 crores. If teams want to retain 2 more players, they will have to pay them Rs 18 and 14 crores.
Tom Moody said about Hardik Pandya that when you consider Hardik Pandya’s form, fitness, his performance, he is worthy of becoming a player worth 18 crores. Is he really worth it, if you want to become a player worth 18 crores, then you have to be a match-winner and perform regularly. Hardik Pandya was struggling with both fitness and performance during this season of IPL, while Tilak Verma was definitely struggling. He said that in the last few years, Mumbai Indians kept some players in the team and they had to pay a heavy price for it. Moody said that the best examples of this are Ishan Kishan and Jofra Archer who were bought at a huge price.
Does Hardik Pandya deserve 18 crores?:
Mumbai Indians have many players like Hardik, Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Verma, who can be placed in these 5 slabs. Speaking to ESPN Cricinfo, Moody said that he would like to keep Jasprit Bumrah and Suryakumar Yadav for 18 crores and Hardik for 14. The Australian coach feels that a player worth 18 crores can be a real match-winner for the team and plays regularly. Moody said that whatever happened to the Mumbai team in IPL 2024, I think Rohit Sharma will be disappointed with it. At the same time, I consider Bumrah and Suryakumar Yadav right for 18 crores while Hardik for 14 crores.
“The way that things panned out in the last edition of the IPL, he (Rohit Sharma) would be, I think, a little bit disillusioned with what happened over the last 6-12 months. I would have Bumrah and Suryakumar Yadav at 18, 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. Tilak Varma absolutely,” Moody said on ESPNCricinfo.
“They’ve had a little bit of problem at the auction table last couple of years. They’ve gotten caught up in a way too loyal in some cases and tried to retain, or get players back into their squad, which has cost them dearly. Classic examples were Ishan Kishan and Jofra Archer, both coming at a heavy price. Did they get the return? I look at Ishan Kishan and I think ‘look he’s a terrific player and is exciting. But also runs very hot and cold’. How many matches has he won out of his bat? That’s a question you’ve got to ask. If you’re paying him around 14 crore for retention, are you going to get the return from a performance point of view? They will have to make some hard decisions, he added.
