IPL 2024: Ashish Nehra sheds light on Hardik Pandya’s trade to Mumbai Indians
Hardik Pandya became the talk of the town after he replaced Rohit Sharma as the new captain of Mumbai Indians’ franchise for the IPL 2024 season. The all-rounder spent the majority of the years at Mumbai Indians from 2015 to 2021 before he was released by the franchise ahead of the IPL 2022 mega auction.
Hardik Pandya became the captain of the newly-inducted franchise, Gujarat Titans in the subsequent seasons. It is worth mentioning that he steered the Ahmedabad-based franchise to a title triumph in the debut season by beating Rajasthan Royals in the final.
In the next season, Gujarat Titans braved the odds and made it to the finals. However, they were outsmarted by Chennai Super Kings. Meanwhile, Hardik Pandya has made a return to Mumbai Indians for the upcoming season and head coach Ashish Nehra opened up on Hardik’s trade to Mumbai Indians.
Read More: IPL 2024 auction: Pat Cummins goes to Sunrisers Hyderabad for INR 20.50 crore
Ashish Nehra talks about Hardik Pandya’s trade to Mumbai Indians
Gujarat Titans (GT) head coach, Ashish Nehra echoed that Hardik Pandya expressed his interest to return to Mumbai Indians, which paved the way for the franchises trading the player as part of an all-cash deal. The former Indian paceman added that replacing Hardik Pandya is “difficult”.
“Hardik Pandya has not gone back to a team that has caused a huge surprise. He played for that team for so many years, he showed his desire to go back there. Our management’s nature is such that, we think if a player wants to go there, right,” Ashish Nehra added.
“He should be happy and that’s why he has gone there again. Replacing someone like Hardik Pandya is difficult, but we tried our best,” added the former India paceman. Hardik Pandya has played 123 games in the IPL, scoring 2309 runs at an average of 30.4 including 10 fifties.
He maintained an excellent strike rate of 145.9. On the contrary, he has accounted for 53 dismissals and has an economy of 8.80. He registered his personal best bowling figures of 3/17.
Read More: IPL 2024 auction: SRH shell out INR 6.8 crore for Travis Head
