IPL 2022 auction: Zaheer Khan reveals why Mumbai Indians didn’t retain Hardik Pandya

With five titles in their kitty, Mumbai Indians (MI) are the most successful franchise in the history of the Indian Premier League (IPL). This is because they have one of the most strong core teams.

But due to the new retention policy, they have had to let go of some of their big players ahead of the IPL 2022 auction. With the mega event scheduled to take place in February, MI would like to get back a few of their old stars in their outfit. One of the names which the Mumbai-based franchise will be looking for is of hard-hitter Hardik Pandya.

The 29-year-old all-rounder is not in favour of the Indian cricket team because of his injury. He has missed a major part of international cricket in the last two seasons because of injuries. But, Hardik is a proven match-winner, and if he could win a couple of games for his team in the league stage – he would have done his job.

In the meantime, Zaheer Khan – the Director of Cricket Operations for MI – recently revealed why their franchise didn’t retain Hardik ahead of the auction.

“The retention calls usually take into consideration various aspects and angles. The debates are usually very long (laughs). It is not an easy process when you set yourself up for a big auction and say goodbye to all players with a heavy heart with whom you spent a lot of time and energy,” Zaheer was quoted as saying to TOI.

However, Zaheer did wish Hardik a speedy recovery as he hoped the Surat-born cricketer would also recover his lost form once he regains full fitness.

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January 06, 2022 at 07:55PM