Mumbai Indians are likely to retain Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah and one of Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kisan as 3 of their local players as part of the IPL 2022 retention policy. Moreover, the 5 time champions are likely to release Hardik Pandya into the auction pool.With the IPL set to be a 10-team affair after RP-SG bought Pune and CVC owned the Ahmedabad franchises respectively, there will be a big auction in December this year. BCCI is expected to come out with the official announcement regarding the retentions soon. Acccording to the Times of India, a senior IPL official tracking the developments related to the retention policy, revealed that there could be only three retentions ahead of the mega auction. However, the number could be increased to four if the Right to Match (RTM) is not allowed. He also went on to add that MI, in that case, will mostly retain its core in Kieron Pollard, Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah. Pandya had joined MI for Rs 10 lakh, he earned the same amount in 2016 and 2017 as well. His income sky-rocketed to Rs 11 crore when there was a mega-auction in 2018.A large credit of Pandya's success goes to MI's management, who spotted the all-rounder in domestic cricket and bid for him at a time when many franchises had no idea about him. Pandya's performance in IPL 2015 was enough to get a place in the BCCI's squads and by the end of the year, he had earned his maiden T20I call-up. In 2015, Pandya had only drawn one bid and joined MI at his base price of Rs 10 lakh. 

“I think BCCI will have three-player retention formula with one Right to Match card. If RTM is not there, there could be four retention. Rohit Sharma and India’s pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah are automatic picks. Kieron Pollard will be third retention. MI’s strength is their continuity as these three are pillars of MI,” the IPL official said. The official stated that he is no longer a feared all-rounder and has gone down in the pecking order when it comes to retaining the players. If MI gets a chance to retain the fourth player, they might go with Suryakumar Yadav or Ishan Kishan ahead of Hardik.“At this point in time, there is less than 10 percent chance that Hardik will be retained by MI. Yes, he might just outperform everybody in the next few T20 World Cup games but even then, chances are dim. If there are four retention or 1 RTM, then Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan are the contenders for that slot,” the official added. Hardik might still be picked by MI from the auction if he comes within the budget ear-marked for him. "Yes, obviously there is a market dynamics and if required MI will pick him from the auction, provided he fits within a specific budget. In order of preference, the first five MI players are Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Kieron Pollard, Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan," the IPL insider stated.