'Shah Rukh, Salman and Aamir in one film won't make it a hit': Sehwag expects big stars like Rohit, Hardik to leave MI

Mumbai Indians (MI) endured a difficult campaign at the 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL). With just four wins in 13 matches this season, MI, under Hardik Pandya, were recently eliminated from the tournament and will miss the playoffs this season. Hardik, who had taken over as MI skipper from Rohit Sharma, has been criticised for his tactical inaccuracies and bad selection calls during the season. Hardik was even booed by MI fans in the initial few matches, and his stats this season don’t give for a good reading.

Hardik has scored just 200 runs from 13 matches and taken 11 wickets. Rohit Sharma, too, began the season with a promising note, including a century against CSK in mid April, but has struggled for consistency in the second half of the season.

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Former India opener Virender Sehwag believes that MI could make a difficult call by releasing big names like Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya and feels that Suryakumar and Jasprit Bumrah are two players who can be relied upon for the 2025 season.

The IPL 2025 mega auctions are scheduled to be held in the latter part of 2024, and with player retentions being a major part of it, it will be interesting to see which way MI decides to go.

“Tell me something. Having Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Aamir Khan in one film won’t guarantee a hit. Will it? You will have to perform, right? You need a good script. Similarly, all these big names will have to come together and perform on the ground. Rohit Sharma scored one century and MI lost. Where are the rest of the performances?,” Sehwag told on Cricbuzz.

Sehwag gave the example of Ishan Kishan, who was hardly effective after the powerplay phase.

“Ishan Kishan played the entire season and he couldn’t last beyond the Powerplay. Only two names are certainties at this stage for MI – Jasprit Bumrah and Suryakumar Yadav. They will be the top two names retained. And if it then boils down to the third or 4th option, we will see.,” added Sehwag.

Former India batter Manij Tiwary agreed with Sehwag, and even said that Bumrah and SKY were captaincy candidates too. Bumrah has led India in a Test against England and three T20Is against Ireland whereas Suryakumar Yadav captained India against Australia and South Africa in the shortest format.

Bumrah is second in the Orange Cap standings with 20 wickets, whereas SKY has scored 345 runs.

“I am also looking at Bumrah and SKY as the two players who will be retained by Mumbai Indians. No one beyond them, and no foreign players either. Tim David has not lived up to the hype. My advice to the management would be to retain just two players – Suryakumar Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah – and make one of the two captains. I am not keeping Rohit either because, looking at him, it appears he doesn’t want to be retained,” commented the 38 year-old.