AB de Villiers recently commented on the swirling rumors regarding Rohit Sharma potentially moving to Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) from Mumbai Indians (MI), calling it a “massive” and “headline-making” move but highly unlikely.
Rohit, who has led MI to five IPL titles, remains one of the most iconic figures in the IPL’s history.
Speaking on his Youtube channel, De Villiers said on this week’s latest episode of the ‘360 Show’.
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. 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 per cent chance,” he said.
The rumors about Rohit’s future with MI have gained traction following a less-than-ideal 2024 IPL season, where MI finished last, despite Rohit’s personal performance of 417 runs with a century. Fans were upset after MI brought back Hardik Pandya as captain, who struggled during the season, which added to the speculation.
Additionally, the IPL’s Governing Council (GC) recently announced key regulations for the 2025-2027 IPL seasons, which might influence player retention strategies.
Each franchise will be allowed to retain up to six players through retention or Right to Match (RTM) options, and the salary cap for franchises is set to increase from INR 110 crore in 2024 to INR 146 crore in 2025, with further incremental increases in subsequent years. A new match fee system of INR 7.5 lakhs per match for playing members has also been introduced .
De Villiers’ comments about Rohit’s hypothetical move have fueled further speculation, although it remains clear that such a transfer is very unlikely.
