If Rohit Sharma moves from Mumbai Indians to join RCB...oh my god: AB de Villiers

One of the greatest batters to have played in the Indian Premier League (IPL), AB de Villiers feels it’s extremely unlikely that Rohit Sharma will shift his base from Mumbai Indians (MI) to Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), but if he does, it will be the biggest move in the history of the tournament. 

Following the announcement of retention rules before the IPL 2025 auction, there have been rumours suggesting that Rohit might leave MI, for whom he has won five titles as captain. He was sacked as MI’s captain last year, with Hardik Pandya taking over. 

The fans weren’t happy with the franchise’s decision and booed Pandya wherever he went. The Indian all-rounder didn’t have a great tournament with the bat and ball, as Mumbai could only win four of their 14 games. They finished last on the points table. 

"That will be quite a story if Rohit moves from Mumbai Indians to RCB. Wow! Imagine the headlines. It will be bigger than Hardik Pandya's move. He moved from Gujarat Titans back to Mumbai, which although wasn't big a surprise,” said de Villiers on his YouTube channel '360 Show'. 

“But if Rohit moves from Mumbai to join his rivals in RCB...oh my god! I don't think there is an option there. I do not see a possibility of MI leaving Rohit. I will give that zero or 0.1 percent chance.”

The franchises can retain up to six players ahead of the 2025 auction, but money will be deducted from their purse, which stands at INR 120 crore. The six players can be Indian or overseas, but at least one of them has to be uncapped.

The value of the first three retentions will be INR 18 crore, INR 14 crore and INR 11 crore. The next two will be INR 18 crore and INR 14 crore. As a result, INR 75 crore will be deducted from the INR 120 crore of the overall purse. 

Pandya, Suryakumar Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah could be Mumbai’s top three picks for retention, while the franchise would also be interested in keeping wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan. 

India’s 2024 T20 World Cup-winning captain, Rohit has featured in 257 IPL games and scored 6628 runs at an average of 29.72 and a strike rate of 131.14.

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