Mumbai Indians registered their fourth win in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 campaign after a thrilling victory over the Punjab Kings on Thursday. The win came under the captaincy of veteran pacer Jasprit Bumrah after both Hardik Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav missed the game. While MI have shared that Hardik’s absence is due to a back spasm, rumours suggest that he could be released from the team. And, former India opener Virender Sehwag opened up on this.

“If you just talk about cricket, then retain him. But then you have all these rumours, which I’m not sure are true, about some dressing-room tension or off-field issues. If that is true, release him. If false, based on cricket, he must be retained because he is a top-quality player,” he said during a discussion on Cricbuzz.

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“Irrespective of the rumours, I will retain him. You can always put an end to that. Those dressing-room differences, if true, can be settled. Because you have to play as a team. And Hardik is more valuable as a player. Mumbai Indians need him,” he again said.

However, currently, the most expensive player in the IPL is Rishabh Pant, who was bought for Rs 27 crore in the IPL 2025 mega auction. Sehwag also feels Hardik is a player whose actual value is the figure Pant received, and not his current salary of Rs 16 crore as well. Meanwhile, the Mumbai Indians will play two more matches before their IPL 2026 season concludes, and it will be interesting to see if Hardik returns.

“Remember, he used to play well even when he was not the captain of Mumbai Indians. There were rumours even then. But I would still retain him. In fact, Rs 16.35 crore is very little. He is a Rs 27 crore player,” he concluded.