"Does he deserve to be an 18 crore player?" - Tom Moody questions Hardik Pandya's retention value for MI ahead of IPL 2025 auction

Former Australian all-rounder Tom Moody questioned Mumbai Indians (MI) captain Hardik Pandya's retention value ahead of the IPL 2025 auction. The franchises are expected to submit their retentions by October 31 before the mega auction possibly in November.

While the highest retained player gets ₹18 crore, the second and third retentions are valued at ₹14 and ₹11 crore before the cycle repeats with ₹18 and ₹14 crore for the fourth and fifth retentions, should franchises go that far.

About MI's retention strategies, Moody told ESPNcricinfo

"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. 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," he added.

Hardik moved from Gujarat Titans (GT) to MI ahead of last year's IPL and was made MI's captain.

However, the all-rounder endured a dismal season, averaging a woeful 18 with the bat and 35.18 at an economy of over 10 with the ball as MI finished at the bottom of the standings with only four wins in 14 matches.

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"How many matches has he won out of his bat?" - Tom Moody on Ishan Kishan

Tom Moody further questioned wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan's value and whether his performances add up to his possible retention price of ₹11 or ₹14 crore.

Kishan had a poor IPL 2024, scoring only 320 runs at an average of under 23 with a lone half-century despite opening the batting.

"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," Moody said in the same interaction.

"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?" he concluded.

Kishan has been part of the MI setup since 2018 and played a massive role in the franchise winning back-to-back titles in 2019 and 2020.

However, the southpaw has never averaged above 33 in any of his last four seasons since 2021.