Picture Credit: BCCI/IPL
India batter Shreyas Iyer is likely to leave his Indian Premier League franchise and look for a leadership role in 2022. Notably, while he had been a crucial part of the franchise after having made his IPL debut with them back in 2015, he also led them brilliantly to two Playoffs including a final in IPL 2020.
His consistent runs in the middle-order meant that Delhi continued to trust him and he was set to lead the side in IPL 2021 when a shoulder injury ruled him out of the competition. However, the midway suspension of the tournament did allow Iyer to get fit for the second half of the tournament in UAE but Delhi did not name him the skipper since Rishabh Pant, the stand-in skipper, had done well in his absence.
With Pant proving his mettle as a captain, Delhi are likely to stick with him which has promoted Iyer to consider going under the hammer this year since several franchises including the likes of Royal Challengers Bangalore and SunRisers Hyderabad might be looking for new captains. The same was claimed in a report carried by the Times of India. Moreover, there will be two new franchises bidding at the auction table which might mean there could be eyeballs on Iyer if his name is announced at the auctions.
Mumbai Indians unlikely to retain Hardik Pandya ahead of mega auction: Reports
Meanwhile, in yet another big news from the IPL circuit, it is being reported that Mumbai Indians are unlikely to retain Hardik Pandya ahead of mega auction. A senior IPL official believes there is less than 10 percent chance that Hardik will be retained by MI. He said that Rohit Sharma, Kieron Pollard and Jasprit Bumrah are likely to be the retention choices for the side but things might change after the T20 World Cup.
Hardik has not been bowling much in the build-up to the World Cup and failed to get going with the bat in the T20 World Cup opener against Pakistan. However, he was seen bowling in the nets on Wednesday and is likely to undergo a second net test on Friday based on which a decision on his selection for the match against New Zealand will be taken.