The former RCB coach Daniel Vettori is not convinced that Mumbai Indians left Hardik Pandya out of the retention list because they didn’t want to retain him. According to Vettori, Pandya had to be left because he probably didn’t agree to be the third choice player of the franchise, which would have got him a contract of 8 crore INR.
Hardik was being paid 11 crore INR by Mumbai Indians for the last 4 seasons, and accepting a retention offer as the third choice player would have meant he would have to take a significant pay cut. It was not possible for Mumbai Indians to offer Hardik Pandya the first two retention choices because the skipper Rohit Sharma and the fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah, who is arguably the best T20 fast bowler in the world, were non-negotiable deals for the franchise.
Vettori reckons there isn’t any franchise in the IPL at the moment which, having had the opportunity to offer Hardik Pandya retention, wouldn’t offer him retention. Everyone would want to retain him, given what he brings to the table, but then it’s about the player as well, if he is happy with the salary that is coming with the offered retention.
Daniel Vettori has been in decision-making positions many times in the IPL
Daniel Vettori is someone who has been in and around the IPL, not just as a player, but also as a captain and as a head coach. So, he has a fair bit of knowledge of the player’s perspective as well as the perspective of the franchise administration and the team management. He thinks Hardik might have thought he could find better deals for himself in the next rounds of player recruitment, which include a draft round for the two new IPL franchises and then the mega auction.
Earlier, it was in the news that Hardik was on the radar of Mumbai Indians to be retained, but then they had to drop his name simply because they were not sure how much he was going to offer with the ball, given his recent fitness history. But, Vettori has no conviction over these reports, as he thinks there is no chance Mumbai would have dropped Hardik’s name from the list if the finances were agreed upon by the player and the franchise.
“It’s simply about money, it has to be. There’s no way Mumbai didn’t Want Hardik Pandya, every franchise wants him. But they would have only been able to offer him that third spot,” Daniel Vettori said while analysing retentions on ESPNcricinfo.
