File photo of Hardik Pandya.© NDTV Library
There are rumours that Mumbai Indians are looking to trade their captain, Hardik Pandya, ahead of the next season of the Indian Premier League. The all-rounder, who made his IPL debut for MI in 2015, left the franchise ahead of the 2022 season and joined Gujarat Titans. Hardik led GT to the title in their debut season and continued as captain for another year before MI reacquired his services through the transfer window. This time, Hardik was handed the responsibility of leading Mumbai Indians. However, the results did not go as expected, with Mumbai finishing at the bottom of the IPL 2024 points table. The following season, MI reached Qualifier 2 before ending IPL 2026 in ninth place.
MI are reportedly in talks with Chennai Super Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders over a potential deal involving Hardik. Commenting on the speculation, India’s legendary spinner Ravichandran Ashwin shared his views and said that MI should look to acquire Harshit Rana and Rinku Singh from KKR if they decide to trade Hardik to the franchise.
“Don’t count out Hardik going to a franchise other than CSK or KKR. The talk is that CSK will give Dube and a pacer, while KKR will give away Cameron Green. What happens if Green decides to focus on the Ashes next year? If I were MI, I would accept a deal with KKR on only one condition: getting Harshit Rana and Rinku Singh in return. That is the only way MI get stronger,” Ashwin said on his Tamil YouTube channel.
“MI will also think about who between CSK and KKR gets stronger through the Hardik trade. If CSK give away Dube and an Indian pacer to get Hardik, they get stronger but not invincible. However, if KKR get Hardik, they suddenly look very strong. KKR will become a lethal batting unit with Hardik. These are teams with five, five and three titles respectively, so MI have to think about how they can ensure one of these teams doesn’t leapfrog them,” he added.
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