The Indian Premier League (IPL) trading window is about to raise quite a few eyebrows as talismanic all-rounder Hardik Pandya is set to return to Mumbai Indians, his first franchise in the cash-rich league.
Hardik left the Mumbai Indians ahead of IPL 2022. He joined the Gujarat Titans, one of the two new teams added in that particular season of the tournament. Hardik was also given the leadership responsibility of the side and he excelled in grand style. In the first season, he led Gujarat to the title before they lost to Chennai Super Kings in the final this year. However, he seems set to reunite with the Mumbai Indians as the trading window closes on Sunday, November 26.
Irfan Pathan, who played alongside Hardik for Baroda, apparently took a subtle dig at the 30-year-old for leaving Gujarat. In a tweet on his official 'X' handle, Irfan didn't mention any name in his tweet but the timing of it matches with Hardik's comeback news.
"Use and throw has been the real characteristic since the start…" Irfan wrote and here is how X users reacted to the same
Use and throw has been the real characteristic since the start…
— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) November 25, 2023
The Ownership group of MI lured hardik for these move . The move included multiple brand endorsements , 20CR + money , and MI captaincy. GT had no option but to trade as hardik said it's MI or nothing. GT only tried to get better deal
— Cricket Guruji (@CricketGuruji6) November 25, 2023
True, hardik pandya firstly uses Gujarat and now going back to Mumbai
— Kirkett (@bhaskar_sanu08) November 25, 2023
Ego comes in between 👀
— Sankott (@Iamsankot) November 25, 2023
— Amit Shah (Parody) (@Motabhai012) November 25, 2023
Lekin ye glt hai jo ek franchise hmesa krti h jo sbko pta h
— @vipin mishra 🇮🇳 (@viplnt) November 25, 2023
Hardik Pandya: pic.twitter.com/Dgws5wrTt8
— A K $ H A Y (@Akshay_Patil_07) November 25, 2023
But Irfan bhai reality was this 👇👇🤨🤨🤨 https://t.co/fTg91w9eGa
— Shiv Mohan (@shivmohan_1991) November 25, 2023
According to ESPNcricinfo, Hardik is set to be traded in an all-cash deal where Mumbai will pay INR 15 crore as the player's salary and an undisclosed transfer fee to Gujarat. The multiple-time IPL winner would earn up to 50% of the transfer fee. This would go down in history books as arguably the biggest trade in the league's history.
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