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Indian captain Rohit Sharma on Thursday backed the retention of national team players in the Mumbai Indians squad for IPL 2025 while franchise skipper Hardik Pandya summed it up as "five fingers but one fist".
Mumbai Indians chose to retain five Indian players as the IPL franchises submitted their list of retentions to end weeks of speculations around who were going to stay with their teams and who would be entering the auction pool.
"The players who are representing the national team at the highest level should get the preference. It's a very tough one when you come into a fresh auction and you start retaining players," former MI skipper Rohit said after being retained by the five-time winners.
After a disastrous last season when they finished at the bottom of the 10-team league, Rohit said MI will look to put their best foot forward in the next edition.
"With Mumbai, we have always tried maintaining a core group of players. Moving forward, I just feel that we can have a good auction and create a group of players who can be match-winners for us.
"We will put the right foot forward and bring the legacy back where it belongs."
There have also been plenty of chatter around Rohit's future in the side after he was replaced by Hardik as captain before the start of last year's tournament.
"I have played so much cricket for Mumbai Indians. I am happy to be here. We haven't had the best of the season in the last two or three years. But we are quite determined to change that. We will be looking forward to each other's help. And hopefully, we can turn things around," Rohit said.
"Mumbai Indians has a rich history of winning trophies, winning games out of unbelievable situations. Since I have retired from the (international) format, I think this is the perfect spot for me."
Hardik will be eager to start afresh after last season's disappointment in a franchise with whom he has achieved so much success as a player.
"Everything that I've achieved in my life has been part of Mumbai Indians. We remember, as a group, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2020. All our fans know what happened in those years. We are going to come back in 2025 even stronger than that," he said.
"You lose and win on the ground. It is just preparation. I like to work hard. I like to prepare well," Hardik was quoted as saying by the franchise.
Mumbai Indians are left with Rs 45 crore after retaining Jasprit Bumrah (Rs 18 crore), Suryakumar Yadav (Rs 16.35 crore), Hardik (Rs 16.35 crore), Rohit (Rs 16.30 crore) and Tilak Varma (Rs 8 crore).
Hardik added, "Five people who we all have cherished a lot of good memories together. We are as one. We are five fingers but one fist. That's how I look at it."
"We are going to come in all guns blazing, with brotherhood, friendship and at the same point of time we are going to back each other no matter what happens."