Aakash Chopra on Suryakumar Yadav's Selfless Decision to Stay with MI Without Captaincy

New Delhi: Aakash Chopra praised the Mumbai Indians (MI) for their strategic player retentions leading up to the IPL 2025 auction. He specifically pointed out Suryakumar Yadav's selflessness in putting aside his ego to thrive under Hardik Pandya's leadership.

The Mumbai Indians retained Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Rohit Sharma, and Tilak Varma ahead of the IPL 2025 auction for a combined total of ₹75 crore. Bumrah was retained at ₹18 crore, while Suryakumar and Hardik will each receive ₹16.35 crore. Rohit stays with MI for ₹16.30 crore, and Tilak Varma for ₹8 crore.

“What they have managed is an absolutely outstanding thing because Jasprit Bumrah would have taken 25 crores had he gone into the auction. If he had told any franchise that he wants 25 crores, anyone would have given him 25 crores, and I am pretty sure the other franchises would have approached him as well,” he said on his official YouTube channel.

“They would have approached him and Suryakumar Yadav as well because he is not even the captain. Hardik (Pandya) is the captain and Suryakumar Yadav is the captain of the Indian T20I team. So there is no ego. He is ready to play for this franchise and for 16.35 crores. He too would have got 25 crores if he had said he wanted to go to the auction and some other team’s captaincy as well,” Chopra added.

Jasprit Bumrah emerged as Mumbai Indians’ leading wicket-taker in IPL 2024, claiming 20 wickets at an impressive economy rate of 6.48 across 13 innings. Suryakumar Yadav was also in fine form, scoring 345 runs at a striking rate of 167.47 in 11 innings this season.