IPL 2025: 2 Released MI Players With INR 2Cr Base Price In Mega Auction

Probuddha Bhattacharjee

Ishan Kishan playing for Mumbai Indians [Source: @LoyalSachinFan/x.com]Ishan Kishan playing for Mumbai Indians [Source: @LoyalSachinFan/x.com]

The Mumbai Indians will look to bring back their glory days and rebuild their legacy during the IPL 2025. The five-time champions' retention list was one of the biggest talking points before 31 October. As the retention list of the IPL franchises came out on the last day of October, the MI fans were relieved to see that the franchise had retained its ‘Big Four’.

Along with Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya, MI retained Tilak Varma. These are the five players that MI kept for IPL 2025. This meant they had let go of some of their big names to keep options open for the upcoming mega auction. 

The highest base price pool for the IPL 2025 mega auction is INR 2 Cr. Only two MI players have apparently registered themselves in this pool for the upcoming mega auction. Here is a look at them - 

Ishan Kishan

The young wicketkeeper batter became part of the MI set-up ahead of the IPL 2018. The management backed Ishan Kishan and saw a future star in him. This was the reason that MI invested INR 15.25 Cr to repurchase him during the IPL 2022 mega auction. However, once again, they have released him, and time will tell whether they will invest in him again or not.

During his stay with the franchise, Ishan Kishan played 89 matches and scored 2,325 runs at a strike rate of 136.85 while maintaining an average of 29.81. However, in IPL 2024, consistency was lacking in his bat. In the last edition of the tournament, Kishan scored 320 runs in 14 matches at an average of 22.86 with a strike rate of 148.84. The batter's failure to give them a consistent start might have been a reason that they decided to release him.

Tim David

Mumbai Indians showed a lot of trust in Tim David as the batter to fill the shoes of Kieron Pollard. With their trio of Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, and Krunal Pandya broken, MI trusted David to take up the baton of the powerful finisher. The five-time champions invested INR 8.25 Cr during the IPL 2025 mega auction on this Australian batter.

Tim David batted in 34 innings for the Mumbai Indians and scored 658 runs in them. He had an average of 29.91 with a strike rate of 171.35. Although the number looks decent for a finisher, David did not have the impact that was expected of him. He played a couple of brilliant knocks to take the team home, but under pressure, David’s consistency was questionable. However, there are chances that MI might use the RTM or look to repurchase him during the IPL 2025 mega auction. The franchise is known to bring the best out of its players and keep a strong core. So, David going back to the MI dugout will be a possibility during the IPL 2025 mega auction.