IPL 2024: 'He Showed His Desire To Go Back There', Gujarat Titans Head Coach Ashish Nehra On Hardik Pandya Returning To Mumbai Indians

Gujarat Titans head coach Ashish Nehra opened up on all-rounder and IPL 2022 winning captain Hardik Pandya's decision to return to Mumbai Indians ahead of IPL 2024.

Hardik was traded by Gujarat Titans to Mumbai Indians in an-cash deal of INR 15 crore ahead of IPL 2024 Auction. A few weeks later, star all-rounder was appointed as captain by MI, replacing five-time IPL champion Rohit Sharma. The Mumbai-based franchise traded Cameron Green for INR 17.5 crore to Royal Challengers Bangalore in order to free up funds to sign Pandya.

During an interaction on Jio Cinema, Ashish Nehra was not surprised as Hardik Pandya returned to the team with whom he had represented for several years before moving to Gujarat Titans. He added that replacing star all-rounder's calibre is difficult but GT gave their best at the auction.

"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,” GT head coach said.

"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,”

"Having the size of 25 members is a luxury. We got a great all-rounder like Omarzai, we also got Shahrukh Khan. But it will be difficult to make up for somebody like Hardik who has that much talent and that much experience. It is what it is. With the resources we have, we will try and do our best,” Nehra added.

Hardik Pandya's appointment as MI captain received criticism

Mumbai Indians' decision to hand over captaincy duties to Hardik Pandya didn't welcome by many as several fans questioned the franchise for the need for replacing Rohit Sharma, who led the team to five IPL titles.

Players within MI team were seemed to be miffed as Jasprit Bumrah has remained silent and Suryakumar Yadav posted a broken heart emoji on his Instagram story.

Many Rohit and MI fans vented out their frustration on the franchise by unfollowing the team's official Instagram handle. Mumbai Indians have lost nearly 10 lakh followers on photo sharing platform following Hardik Pandya's appointment as captain.