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The Mumbai Indians (MI) are in an interesting position ahead of the 2025 Indian Premier League (IPL) auction. The five-time champions have been off-color for the last four seasons, despite having plenty of talent in their ranks.
IPL 2024 saw MI finish dead last in the standings despite entering the tournament as one of the favorites. Hardik Pandya's trade and subsequent selection as captain didn't work out, with the team playing well below their potential throughout the campaign.
Nevertheless, Mumbai are in a decent position going forward. They have an enviable Indian core, especially in the batting department, and have a few of the world's best T20 players locked down.
With that, however, comes tough decisions. On that note, here are three top players that might have to be released by MI ahead of IPL 2025.
#3 Ishan Kishan
Signed for a whopping ₹15.25 crore at the IPL 2022 auction, Ishan Kishan hasn't developed in the way MI would've wanted him to. The opening batter still has struggles against seam movement, hard lengths and spin, with inconsistency plaguing him over the recently concluded auction cycle.
Mumbai will undoubtedly want to retain Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah and Suryakumar Yadav with their first three slots, meaning that they will need to shell out ₹14 crore to retain Kishan's services. While it's still possible that they will, with quality keepers being hard to find, it would leave them without much wiggle room at the auction.
Kishan currently doesn't even have a BCCI central contract and seems to have hit a rough phase in his career. It remains to be seen if MI will keep faith in him, and even if they do, it might be with an intent to reacquire him at the auction.
#2 Tilak Varma
Another bright domestic talent MI have played a big part in developing, Tilak Varma is young enough and talented enough to be one of their franchise cornerstones for years to come. However, the left-hander might not be retained just because of the oodles of talent at the team's disposal.
Could MI decide to shell out ₹11 crore for Tilak as their fifth retention? Like with Kishan, it's possible. But whether the 21-year-old will go for that amount in a mega auction remains to be seen, especially with him not making much of an impression at the international level.
As a middle-order left-hander who can hit both pace and spin and bowl part-time off-spin, Tilak is a top T20 asset. But MI might still not be able to hold on to him ahead of the IPL 2025 auction.
#1 Gerald Coetzee
In a struggling MI team, Gerald Coetzee came up with a decent overall campaign. While he was expensive, with a season economy rate of 10.18, he picked up 13 wickets and seemed to be the only pacer capable of even slightly supporting Jasprit Bumrah.
Coetzee, at just 24, is one of the world's most exciting pace-bowling talents. He can move the new ball, and his primary skill set is serving as a hit-the-deck enforcer through the middle overs. Young overseas fast bowlers are rarely as complete as the South African is, and he can tonk the ball a long way as well.
However, unlike Kishan and Tilak, it's virtually impossible to see MI retaining Coetzee. Teams will certainly be keen on his services at the IPL 2025 auction.
