India’s T20I captain Hardik Pandya has returned to the Mumbai Indians after a trade-off deal with the Gujarat Titans. The deal was completed after 72 hours of intense drama and formal paperwork. The IPL retention window closed on Sunday at 5 pm, and the Gujarat Titans named Pandya in their retention list. However, the formal paperwork was not completed at that point, so the IPL and BCCI did not give their approval. A senior BCCI official and IPL Governing Council member confirmed that the deal was now formalized and Pandya is now a Mumbai Indians player.
To complete the deal, the Mumbai Indians traded their all-rounder Cameron Green to the Royal Challengers Bangalore in an all-cash deal. This provided the necessary funds to settle an all-cash deal with the Gujarat Titans and acquire Pandya’s services. Prior to the 2022 auction, Pandya was picked by the Gujarat Titans from the list of available players for the two new franchises, GT and Lucknow Super Giants. He led the Titans to back-to-back finals, winning the championship in the first year and narrowly losing to CSK in 2023.
The Mumbai Indians have signed Pandya with a long-term plan in mind, as there will be a mega auction in 2025 and every franchise will be looking to build a new team with a young core. However, with Rohit Sharma still in the mix as India’s ODI and Test captain and a five-time title winner with the franchise, the decision regarding leadership will be interesting for the owners and top management.
It was known that Pandya wanted to return to the franchise where he made a name for himself and played for seven seasons. The opportunity to captain the IPL’s most popular franchise with the biggest fan base was also a motivating factor, along with building his brand as a national skipper in one of the formats.
