IPL 2022: It wasn’t an easy decision – Zaheer Khan on retaining Suryakumar Yadav as third Indian player

The Director of Cricket Operations for Mumbai Indians Zaheer Khan has revealed that it wasn’t an easy decision to retain Suryakumar Yadav as the third Indian player as there were a lot of other contenders in the team.

The five-time champions decided to retain their skipper Rohit Sharma, gun fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav, and all-rounder Kieron Pollard ahead of the IPL 2022 mega auction.

In fact, Mumbai had a difficult choice to make as there were players like Hardik Pandya, Ishan Kishan, Rahul Chahar, Krunal Pandya for the third Indian player. All of these players have performed consistently over the years for Mumbai Indians and it was a big call for the team management to finalize four retentions.

Zaheer Khan said while talking to Cricbuzz, “It was not an easy decision. The way the team had performed, and the playing XI or the whole squad you were seeing, we had players with great potential, the players who played and performed well and the ones in the squad.”

“The big names you are talking about – Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Rahul Chahar, Krunal Pandya – the list is huge. We did discuss about all of them, and we also discussed how to get our players back.”

On the other hand, it was expected that Mumbai Indians were always going to retain their skipper Rohit Sharma and ace paceman Jasprit Bumrah, both of whom have been the main pillars in building the legacy of Mumbai Indians.

Furthermore, Kieron Pollard was also retained as a foreign player as he has been a consistent performer for MI over the years. Khan added that it was a no-brainer to retain these three big players.

“Absolutely, there was nothing much to think there. The players who have been leaders for the last so many years, you can also include Pollard in that. Pollard had also started his journey with MI in 2010. He is now considered the strongest finisher in this format.”

“So, that was also not a difficult decision from that point of view. When you see the Mumbai Indians’ retention list, you will see the leaders and the players who have performed consistently. Yes, the ones who we could not retain, we had to leave them with a very heavy heart.”