In what has come as the biggest news in the IPL 2024 trade window, Hardik Pandya could return to his previous franchise, Mumbai Indians. There are reports of a swap trade between Hardik Pandya and Jofra Archer between Mumbai Indians and Gujarat Titans.
News18 has reported that there is a chance of a possible swap of Pandya and Archer, and that Pandya could be seen leading the Mumbai Indians once Rohit Sharma steps down or retires.
“It is also possible that MI may request Hardik to fill in for Archer’s position and wait for a year before taking over as captain by replacing Rohit,” a report in News18 said.
Swap trade deal for Jofra Archer and Hardik Pandya?
Jofra Archer was bought by Mumbai in the IPL 2022 auction for INR 8 crore. He missed the entire IPL 2022 season due to an elbow injury and played only 5 matches in the IPL 2023, missing the rest of the tournament due to the flare-up of the same elbow injury.
Archer recently also missed the World Cup 2023 for England as he’s not yet recovered from the elbow injury and is ruled out for a couple of more months. Mumbai’s expensive punt on Archer is now looking more and more unwise, and they are likely to either release him or trade him away.
Hardik Pandya started his IPL career with Mumbai Indians in 2015 and stayed there will 2021, winning four IPL titles with MI. He was then released ahead of the IPL 2022 mega-auction.
Gujarat Titans, who debuted in the IPL in 2022, roped him in – Hardik is from Baroda, Gujarat – and made him their skipper. The pair of Hardik Pandya and Ashish Nehra delivered instantly with a title in the IPL 2022 season. GT also reached the final in IPL 2023 but lost the final to MS Dhoni’s CSK.
Mumbai Indians, on the other hand, have not reached an IPL final since 2020. They came close this year but lost in the Qualifier 2.
The deadline for the IPL 2024 transfer window is November 26. The IPL 2024 auction is scheduled for December 19 in Dubai. This will be the first time ever an IPL auction will take place outside India.
Hardik Pandya, meanwhile, is recovering from an ankle injury which he sustained during the World Cup. He is set to miss the Australia T20I series and the South Africa tour.
