Mumbai Indians skipper Hardik Pandya though had only a couple of seasons with Gujarat Titans has had a huge impact on them. He led the franchise to a trophy in 2022 and was a finalist in 2023 only to lose to MS Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings in a rain-curtailed close encounter. Earlier this year the all-rounder returned to Mumbai Indians. Titans Head Coach Ashish Nehra would reveal that he “never tried” to convince Hardik to stay at the franchise.
“I never tried to convince Hardik Pandya to stay back. I could have stopped him had he been going to some other team. [But] he played for that team for five or six years.” Nehra was quoted by PTI. Pandya was one of the key players in the Mumbai Indians squad who helped the franchise win four trophies under Rohit Sharma before moving to Titans.
As he returned to the Mumbai, Hardik was handed over the captaincy. “I think it was purely a cricketing decision. We saw the window period to get Hardik back as a player. For me, it’s a transition phase. A lot of people don’t understand in India, people get quite emotional But you know you take the emotions away from it.” Mumbai Head Coach Mark Boucher would reason on the Smash Sports podcast.
Going the soccer way
Titans coach Nehra would also predict that the trade of Hardik is indicative that the Indian Premier League is heading in the direction of Soccer or basketball. “And the way this game has been going along, people say that it is heading in the direction of soccer or basketball. So we will end up seeing those trades [in cricket too]. Yes, GT will miss Hardik Pandya. Best wishes [to him] from our side.” he would say.
Titans have named young Shubman Gill as the captain for the upcoming season. The elegant right-hander was the top scorer for the franchise last season as he amassed 890 runs from 17 innings at a strike rate of 157.80.
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