Ishan Kishan was snapped up by last season’s finalists Sunrisers Hyderabad for Rs 11.25 crore as Mumbai Indians quit bidding on the player once it reached Rs 3.20 crore. Ishan Kishan had a base price of Rs 2 crore. The absence of Ishan Kishan in Mumbai Indians’ retention list raised quite a few eyebrows.
The 5-time champions held back five players – former skipper Rohit Sharma, incumbent leader Pandya, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma and Jasprit Bumrah – and were left with one Right to Match (RTM) card to exercise in the mega auction but for an uncapped player. The franchise did start bidding for the wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan in the auction in Jeddah but backed out once the price reached Rs 3.20 crore. Sunrisers Hyderabad finally acquired Ishan Kishan for Rs 11.25 crore.
Ishan Kishan’s IPL career
Ishan Kishan made his IPL debut at the age of 17 for Gujarat Lions in 2016 and continued to play for the franchise the following year. In 2018, Ishan Kishan was bought by Mumbai Indians for ₹6.2 crore. That year, he scored 275 runs at a strike rate of 150. However, his breakthrough season came in 2020, when he became MI’s highest run-scorer with 516 runs, and his consistent batting at the top of the order made him one of the most valuable players for the franchise.
The left-hander was bought for a whopping ₹15.25 crore in 2022 and was also retained for the 2023 and 2024 IPL seasons. However, having already spent ₹75 crore on Jasprit Bumrah, Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya, Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma, Mumbai Indians had little chance of getting Kishan back at this year’s auction.
MI skipper Hardik Pandya opened up on why the franchise couldn’t retain Ishan Kishan, who was part of the team since 2018. In a video shared by MI, the Indian all-rounder said the team knew it would be difficult to get Ishan Kishan back into the fold from the mega auction due to his skill set.
MI skipper Hardik Pandya opens up about losing star Indian player Ishan Kishan for IPL 2025
Mumbai Indians (MI) captain Hardik Pandya has opened up about the departure of Ishan Kishan, acknowledging that the team knew they wouldn’t be able to bring him back once he wasn’t retained ahead of the mega auction.
The wicketkeeper-batter, who was not part of the five players retained, was eventually bought by SunRisers Hyderabad in the 2025 mega auction for ₹11.25 crore.
On Sunday, December 1, the Mumbai Indians social media page posted a video in which captain Hardik Pandya shared a heartfelt message for the 26-year-old Ishan Kishan. He expressed that Ishan always brought smiles to people’s faces and that the team would miss him. He said:
“Ishan has been the ‘freshness’ and the ‘energy’ of the room. When we couldn’t retain him, we always knew that it’s gonna be very difficult to get him back from the auction simply because we knew that, the kind of player and kind of skillset he brings. He always used to be keep the dressing room light, has made a lot of people smile.”
“That love and warmth, it came very natural to him and there will be less cake smashing, less pranks happening on people. That was Ishan and who used to bring so much love to this team, that is something as a group we are going to miss. Ishan Kishan, you always be MI’s pocket-dynamo. We all gonna miss you and we all love you.”
Meanwhile, the 2025 edition of the IPL is set to begin on March 14.
Ishan Kishan has scored over 2,000 runs for Mumbai Indians
After making his IPL debut with Gujarat Lions in 2016, Ishan Kishan joined Mumbai Indians in 2018 and quickly became a key player for the team. Over seven seasons, he featured in 89 matches for MI, scoring 2,325 runs, including 15 fifties.
His most impressive season came in 2020, when he scored 516 runs in 14 matches at an average of 57.33, including four half-centuries. Ishan was also part of the winning MI squads in the 2019 and 2020 seasons.