 "Hardik Pandya, Indian Premier League")
Hardik Pandya has been retained by Gujarat Titans and all the rumours of him being poached by the Mumbai Indians ahead of the Indian Premier League 2024 auction, were turned into mearge speculation on Sunday, November 26, 2023.
The rumours that Mumbai did settlement outside the window and they paid out of the purse have also been made null and void now. Pandya won the IPL trophy as a captain in the inaugural season for the Titans and rallied them to yet another final in the next as well.
How was Mumbai going to pay for Hardik Pandya?
After the IPL 2023 auction ended, Mumbai Indians had just Rs 0.05 crore in their salary purse left. All the franchises will get an additional Rs 5 crore in their purse for the IPL 2024 auction. This only means Mumbai must release player(s) to finish the Hardik trade.
Trading window open till December
However, it cannot be said that Hardik will not go to Mumbai as the trading window will remain open one week prior to the min-auction. This means that the Mumbai side has till December 12 to try and fetch Pandya from the Titanas.
With Jofra Archer released, Mumbai will get Rupees 8 crore in their kitty. Add to that the amount of Rs five crore and 50 laksh that they have in the purse, they can try and woo Pandya for lucrative out-of-contract deals such as ads and sponsorships. So the window is still open. Earlier Mumbai bought Romaripo Shepherd from Lucknow Super Giants in the trade window.
Hardik Pandya in IPL for Titans
Hardik scored 833 runs in 30 innings during his two seasons with the Titans, averaging 41.65 and striking out 133.49. For them, he claimed 11 wickets at an economy rate of 8.1. Due to an ankle injury sustained during India's ODI World Cup campaign, Hardik is currently sidelined.
