Hardik Pandya-Mumbai Indians trade is only possible if MI releases these players
Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya is all set to make a comeback to the IPL team Mumbai Indians, which had identified his extraordinary talent in 2015. A media source tracking the developments of Gujarat Titans’ camping of the 2024 season gave this big but unexpected news. Hardik who made the Ahmedabad-based franchise champions in their inaugural IPL season (2022) was bought by Titans for the whopping amount of approximately ₹15 crore.
ESPNCricinfo, a sports news website focused on cricket identified this development and hinted at the possible biggest trade in IPL history. According to the site, the player retention deadline expires on November 26 at 4 pm IST and if Gujarat and Mumbai agree and let the trade materialize, MI will be paying GT the whole fee of ₹15 crore along with an undisclosed transfer fee. ESPN also reported that Hardik will be getting up to 50% of the transfer fee.
Mumbai Indians trade for Hardik Pandya is possible only if…
But that’s not all, this year each franchise will have a spending limit of ₹100 crore to build a team, which is ₹5 crore up from the 2023 season, with Mumbai having only ₹50 lakh left from last season. This means, MI has only ₹5.50 crore in their packet for the trade. In such a situation, if they go for Hardik, MI may have to discharge some big players from their squad, which hints at the potential release of England-pacer Jofra Archer (₹8 crore) or young Australian all-rounder Cameron Green (₹17.50 crore).
Although it should be noted both franchises have remained tight-lipped on the trade so far and all these reports are based on the sources tracking the developments of the biggest cricket league in the world.
Hardik Pandya’s IPL Journey
Talking of Hardik Pandya’s IPL journey, bought by MI in 2015 at the price of just ₹10 lakh, he wore the blue jersey for seven seasons. In 2022, the new IPL team Gujarat Titans brought in Hardik for ₹15 crore and appointed the all-rounder as their captain. Under Hardik’s captaincy, the team won the IPL trophy in their inaugural season 2022, while in the 2023 season, the team finished second after losing to Chennai Super Kings in a thrilling final.
Playing for the five-time IPL winners Mumbai Indians, Hardik in 92 matches scored 1,476 runs along with taking 42 wickets as well. For GT in the last two seasons, he has scored 833 runs and has taken 11 wickets in 31 games.
Twitterati react to possible change
After the news surfaced in the media, netizens on social media are giving strong reactions to this possible trade of Hardik Pandya to Mumbai Indians. Here are a few of them-