New Delhi: Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya acknowledged that retaining Ishan Kishan was always going to be a challenge for the franchise due to his exceptional batting and wicketkeeping skills. The five-time IPL champions retained Hardik, Suryakumar Yadav, Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah and Tilak Varma and they also failed to buy Ishan in the IPL 2025 mega auction.
Sunrisers Hyderabad bought Ishan Kishan for INR 11.25 crore after MI quit bidding at INR 3.20 crore for the player. Speaking in a heartwarming video posted on Mumbai Indians’ X account, Hardik said that when the franchise failed to retain him they knew that it will be difficult to get him back in the auction because the kind of player Ishan is and the skill he brings in the team.
“He always used to keep the dressing room live, he made a lot of people smile, that love and warmth came very natural to him and there will be less cake-smashing, less pranks happening on the people. But yeah, that was Ishan who used to bring so much love to this team. We are going to miss him. Ishan Kishan, you will be MI’s pocket dynamo and we are all going to miss you and we all love you” Hardik Pandya said.
Kishan also said goodbye to MI and credited the franchise for playing a crucial role in his career. He said that MI will always remain in his heart and thanked the management and fans for supporting him.
“MI, Mumbai, and the paltan will always remain in my heart. I’ve grown as a person and a player with all of you by my side. We say goodbye with memories that will stay with me for life” Ishan said.
💌 𝓉ℴ 𝐼𝓈𝒽𝒶𝓃 #MumbaiMeriJaan #MumbaiIndians | @ishankishan51 pic.twitter.com/K1Gz5DKYUU
— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) December 1, 2024
Ishan Kishan’s IPL career
Kishan started his IPL career in 2016 with the Gujarat Lions and they retained him in their last season of the tournament. He was bought by MI in 2018 and had a great first season with the franchise, scoring 275 runs at a strike rate of 150. He amassed 516 runs in 2020 and was MI’s highest run-scorer in that season. MI acquired him for ₹15.25 crores in 2022 auction and was retained by them for the 2023 and 2024 season too.
Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya shared heartwarming message for Ishan Kishan after the franchise failed to acquire him back in IPL 2025 mega auction. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
