The five-time champions Mumbai Indians are heading into the 2025 IPL season after a below-par season last time around. Mumbai Indians are looking to turn the ship around.

Here’s what Mumbai Indians top stars Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya said after being retained:

Rohit Sharma speaking after he was retained by the Mumbai Indians, said that he was thrilled to be part of the Mumbai Indians franchise again.

“I have played so much cricket for Mumbai Indians. Mumbai is the place where I have started my cricket career. So, this city is very, very special. I am happy to be here. We haven’t had the best of the season in the last two or three years. But we are quite determined to change that. We will be looking forward to each other’s help. And hopefully, we can turn things around,” Rohit Sharma said before adding: “Mumbai Indians has a rich history of winning trophies, winning games out of unbelievable situations. Since I have retired from the format, I think this is the perfect spot for me. The players who are representing the national team at the highest level should get the preference. It’s a very tough one when you come into a fresh auction and you start retaining players. With Mumbai, we have always tried maintaining a core group of players. Moving forward, I just feel that we can have a good auction and create a group of players who can be match-winners for us. We will put the right foot forward and bring the legacy back where it belongs.”

Hardik Pandya, the man who replaced Rohit Sharma as the captain, last season, also struck a hopeful note for the season ahead.

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“It’s (Playing for MI) has been fantastic. I’ve received a lot of love back there and it means the world to me. The reason being that my journey started here. Everything that I’ve achieved in my life has been part of Mumbai Indians. We remember, as a group, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2020. All our fans know what happened in those years. We are going to come back in 2025 even stronger than that. You lose and win on the ground. It is just preparation. I like to work hard. I like to prepare well.

“Five people who we all have cherished a lot of good memories together. We are as one. We are five fingers but one fist. That’s how I look at it. We are going to come in all guns blazing, with brotherhood, friendship and at the same point of time we are going to back each other no matter what happens,” Hardik Pandya was quoted as saying by Mumbai Indians’ social media handles.