'Does he deserve to be an 18 crore player?' - Former Australian all-rounder questions Hardik Pandya's worth in IPL ahead of IPL 2025 retentions

Hardik Pandya's aura in the Indian Premier League (IPL) is unmatchable, and now that he has become the captain of the Mumbai Indians, he has bigger things to achieve as a player and skipper. However, the criticisms haven't stopped for the player yet, as Australia's former all-rounder Tom Moody questioned the player's worth in the tournament. 

The former player is all in favour of spending money on Suryakumar Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah but not on Hardik. Moody said, "The way that things panned out in the last edition of the IPL, he would be, I think, a little bit disillusioned with what happened over the last 6-12 months. I would have Bumrah and Suryakumar Yadav in the 18-crore bracket and Hardik at 14."

The management brought Hardik back into the team with a plan, and people weren't ready to accept it. Also, the season wasn't that great for Hardik in 2024, as he didn't perform in most matches. Hence, Moody feels he shouldn't be MI's first retention as they will have to spend INR 18 crores on him. 

"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?," added Tom Moody as quoted by ESPNcricinfo. 

BCCI allowed 6 retentions per franchise ahead of IPL 2025

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has allowed six retentions per team ahead of the IPL 2025. They have set a limit of a maximum of five capped players and one uncapped player in the team. This seems to be a bit unfair for teams like Delhi Capitals and Punjab Kings since they wanted to start from scratch and build an entirely new team. 

However, well-established teams like Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians will be quite happy with the new rule as they can retain their star players ahead of the tournament. The tentative mega auction date is around November/ December 2024. The Board has yet to announce the auction date and venue which can be expected in a few days.