If the trade happens, it could be a big deal in the history of IPL player trades. Both teams haven’t said anything about it publicly yet. Mumbai has a challenge because they don’t have much money left after the last auction – just INR 0.05 crore (about $6000). Teams will get an extra INR 5 crore (about $600,000) for the next auction. This means Mumbai has to let go of some players to make the Hardik trade work before the deadline on November 26 at 4 pm IST.
Hardik led the Titans to win the title in 2022, their first season in the IPL. He was chosen as the Player of the Match in the final against Rajasthan Royals. In the 2023 season, the Titans made it to the IPL final for the second year in a row but came in second place to Chennai Super Kings. During both seasons, under Hardik’s leadership, the Titans were at the top of the points table in the league stage.
Hardik Pandya’s perfomance in the last 2 seasons with Titans
During his time with the Titans for two seasons, Hardik played 30 innings, scoring 833 runs with an average of 41.65 and a strike rate of 133.49. He also took 11 wickets with an economy of 8.1. Currently, he’s recovering from an ankle injury he sustained during the ODI World Cup.
If the trade happens, he would be the third captain to be traded in IPL history. This follows R Ashwin moving from Punjab Kings to Delhi Capitals and the trade of Ajinkya Rahane from Rajasthan Royals to Capitals in 2020.
In 2021, the Titans joined the IPL, owned by a global fund manager named CVC Capital Partners. Before the major auction, teams released some players, and the Titans could select three of them. They chose Hardik and Rashid Khan from Afghanistan, paying each of them INR 15 crore. Their third pick was Shubman Gill, whom they got for INR 7 crore.
Hardik started playing in IPL in 2015
Hardik started playing in the IPL with Mumbai, where he became one of the best all-round players. He was first bought for INR 10 lakhs as a new player in 2015. Hardik played a crucial role in Mumbai winning the IPL title in 2015, 2017, 2019, and 2020. However, despite Mumbai keeping him for every auction until 2021, they had to let him go before the 2022 mega auction. This was because Mumbai could only keep four players, and they chose Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav, and Kieron Pollard, opening the opportunity for Titans to sign Hardik as their captain.
