It is safe to say that Mumbai Indians have been the most successful team in the history of the league. The defending championship go into IPL 2021 with the favorites tag once again. MI fans would be very happy to see their team win the IPL trophy for the third time in a row. One of the major reasons for their victory last year was Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav. Both of them were superb for MI and ensured that MI never has a big batting collapse. They were so good that they were selected to play for India in the T20I series against England. Both Suryakumar and Ishan played their debut game for the Men in Blue. While Ishan was opening the innings alongside KL Rahul, Suryakumar was likely to find a spot in the middle-order. However, the debut of Surya and Kishan might create problems for their IPL franchise Mumbai Indians.
It is speculated that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will be hosting the mega-auction for the 15th edition of the IPL as the tournament will see an expansion with the inclusion of two new teams. If the mega-auction is conducted, then Mumbai won’t be able to retain both the swashbuckling batsmen. This is because the retention rule states that an IPL franchise can retain any three players but RTM can be used for retaining only one overseas and one uncapped player during the IPL auction. In this scenario, MI will retain Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, and Hardik Pandya as the three capped Indian players and will have to let go of both Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav. So unless MI decide to let go of Either Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah or Hardik Pandya, it seems very unlikely that Kishan or Suryakumar would be representing MI again. This would be a big blow for MI as they would 2 of the key players.
However this might be a good news for all other teams as a lot of other teams would be aiming to get the either of them in their team for IPL 2022. Ishan Kishan’s match winning performance yesterday adds more flavour do this spice. Ishan Kishan made a statement and smashed a match-winning half-century. The fearless batsman from Jharkhand looked like he belongs on the big stage as he dominated the England bowling attack. Suryakumar Yadav also made his debut in the same match but couldn’t get an opportunity to bat in the run chase. The talented batsman is expected to get batting opportunities in the 3 remaining matches of the series against England.