Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin believes that Mumbai Indians (MI) have struck gold if they manage to rope in Hardik Pandya in the trade window ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024.
As per reports, the Gujarat Titans (GT) skipper is set to return to the team that gave him his first break in the competition back in 2015. MI are set to pay Rs 15 crore in addition to an undisclosed transfer fee to secure his services, as per a report by ESPN Cricinfo.
Ashwin, who represents Rajasthan Royals, believes that MI will only go strength to strength if they bring back their former star.
“If it’s true, Mumbai Indians have struck gold. So if it’s true, it’s a complete cash deal from whatever I read. There’s no player that Mumbai is giving, Mumbai Indians have never given players on trade. I don’t think it has ever happened. But how does that XI look if Hardik goes back, who’s an MI grown player,” Ashwin said in a video posted on his socials.
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Ashwin is one of the only two IPL captains traded by their teams in league history so far. Ajinkya Rahane was let go of to the Delhi Capitals (DC) in 2020 when Punjab Kings (PBKS) released Ashwin for the same franchise that very year.
However, the spinner says there’s a huge caveat in this trade deal, as Pandya is an IPL-winning skipper, unlike the duo as mentioned earlier.
“The only difference between us and Hardik is that he’s an IPL-winning captain which completely changes the balance for even Gujarat Titans,” the 36-year-old quipped.
