Is Hardik Pandya Truly Worth Rs 18 Crore? Former Hyderabad Coach's Bold Inquiry to MI Prior to IPL 2025

Former Sunrisers Hyderabad coach Tom Moody has sparked a debate on whether Mumbai Indians should retain Hardik Pandya for 18 crores. With the new retention rules in place for the IPL, every franchise has the opportunity to retain 6 players, including RTM. The top player can be retained for 18 crores, while the next two can be retained for 14 and 11 crores respectively. If teams wish to retain 2 more players, they must be prepared to pay them 18 and 14 crores. Moody's question raises doubts about whether Mumbai Indians should invest such a hefty sum on Pandya or look for alternative options.

Tom Moody said about Hardik Pandya that when you consider Hardik Pandya’s form, fitness, his performance, he is worthy of becoming a player worth 18 crores. Is he really worth it, if you want to become a player worth 18 crores, then you have to be a match-winner and perform regularly. Hardik Pandya was struggling with both fitness and performance during this season of IPL, while Tilak Verma was definitely struggling. He said that in the last few years, Mumbai Indians kept some players in the team and they had to pay a heavy price for it. Moody said that the best examples of this are Ishan Kishan and Jofra Archer who were bought at a huge price.

Does Hardik Pandya deserve 18 crores?:

Mumbai Indians have many players like Hardik, Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Verma, who can be placed in these 5 slabs. Speaking to ESPN Cricinfo, Moody said that he would like to keep Jasprit Bumrah and Suryakumar Yadav for 18 crores and Hardik for 14. The Australian coach feels that a player worth 18 crores can be a real match-winner for the team and plays regularly. Moody said that whatever happened to the Mumbai team in IPL 2024, I think Rohit Sharma will be disappointed with it. At the same time, I consider Bumrah and Suryakumar Yadav right for 18 crores while Hardik for 14 crores.

“The way that things panned out in the last edition of the IPL, he (Rohit Sharma) would be, I think, a little bit disillusioned with what happened over the last 6-12 months. I would have Bumrah and Suryakumar Yadav at 18, and Hardik at 14. (Leaving) is up to him or you can put it down to his performance, form and fitness. And when you dissect all of those areas with Hardik Pandya, does he deserve to be an 18 crore player? Is he worth? If you’ve got to be an 18 crore player, you’ve got to be a genuine match-winner and do it regularly. Hardik Pandya, through his trials and tribulations over the last edition of the IPL was struggling with both fitness and performance. Tilak Varma absolutely,” Moody said on ESPNCricinfo.

“They’ve had a little bit of problem at the auction table last couple of years. They’ve gotten caught up in a way too loyal in some cases and tried to retain, or get players back into their squad, which has cost them dearly. Classic examples were Ishan Kishan and Jofra Archer, both coming at a heavy price. Did they get the return? I look at Ishan Kishan and I think ‘look he’s a terrific player and is exciting. But also runs very hot and cold’. How many matches has he won out of his bat? That’s a question you’ve got to ask. If you’re paying him around 14 crore for retention, are you going to get the return from a performance point of view? They will have to make some hard decisions, he added.