Ahead of the IPL 2024 auction, the big news of the past 24 hours has been of Hardik Pandya set to return to Mumbai Indians after two seasons at Gujarat Titans. What initially began as simply social media rumors is now just an official confirmation away from becoming a reality.
ESPNcricinfo has reported that Hardik Pandya is all but confirmed to leave Gujarat Titans, the franchise which he has led with immense success over the past two seasons, and return to Mumbai Indians in a player-for-cash trade. Apart from his salary of INR 15 crore, Hardik is reportedly set to get half of the transfer fee that MI will pay to the GT owners. Hardik has also apparently been assured of captaincy – though it’s unclear whether it will happen in IPL 2024 or next season.
A report in ESPNcricinfo said that “the trade is an all-cash deal comprising Mumbai paying INR 15 crore ($1.8 million approx.) as Hardik’s salary and an undisclosed transfer fee to Titans. Hardik stands to earn upto 50% of the transfer fee.”
Mumbai Indians was his first franchise, where he stayed from 2015 to 2021, winning 4 IPL titles. After not being retained ahead of IPL 2022 mega-auction, Hardik Pandya was roped in by the Titans, a new franchise in IPL 2022.
He led GT to two consecutive IPL finals, winning one and losing one. Under Hardik, GT topped the league stage in both seasons.
This news was shocking to many as Hardik had led GT to great success in two seasons and was also in contention for India captaincy.
Irfan Pathan posts a cryptic tweet as Hardik Pandya set to return to MI and leave GT
Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan, who hails from Baroda, made a cryptic tweet on Saturday, after the news of Hardik’s potential return to GT went viral.
Irfan Pathan tweeted: “Use and throw has been the real characteristic since the start…
Fans are wondering whether Pathan took an indirect dig at GT or Hardik Pandya.
The deadline for franchises to announce the list of retained, released, and traded players is November 26 at 4 pm IST.
