Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma has been one of the few players retained by the franchise ahead of the mega auction in IPL 2022. The most successful IPL skipper said it was 'heart-breaking' not to be able to hold on to their entire core team members. As per the guidelines, MI retained four players - Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav and Kieron Pollard for the next season. However, the franchise were not able to retain the likes of Hardik Pandya, Ishan Kishan, Trent Boult who have played great cricket while leading the team to many remarkable victories in last few seasons.
The 32-year-old skipper called this year's retention the toughest. "As you all know, it was going to be the toughest retention for Mumbai Indians this year. We have had solid players, absolutely gun players in our squad and to release them is absolutely heart-breaking," Rohit said on Star Sports during the IPL retention held on Tuesday.
Rohit Sharma who was retained for 16 crore, did not name any particular player but gave enough indications to suggest he was keen on holding on to the likes of Kishan, Pandya brothers and Boult.
"They have done some amazing work for this franchise, created a lot of memories. So, to let them go was really tough. Four players including myself - hopefully we can form a good core and create a solid team around us," Rohit said.
MI, however, will have a chance to buy the released players back when the IPL mega auction take place in January next year.
"The immediate goal is to form a solid team and that will start at the auction. We'll keep an eye on who we can get in the auction, find the right spot for the right players," Rohit said.