Hardik Pandya has been retained by the Gujarat Titans ahead of IPL 2024 Auction. The GT skipper was heavily rumored to join the Mumbai Indians in an all-cash deal before the auction. However, all those rumors seem to be incorrect now.
While the trade window is still open for a few days, it seems highly unlikely that a team like Gujarat Titans would let go of their captain, especially after he led them to two finals in two seasons. Also, Pandya is a local boy from Gujarat, which helped the team connect with the fans easily. Hence, the decision to release Hardik did not make much sense.
Here are some of the top fan reactions to the news of GT retaining Hardik:
Two years ago, Hardik Pandya was at the lowest point of his career. Because of injury issues, he could not bowl, and his batting performances were not up to the mark as well. Mumbai Indians did not retain him before the IPL 2022 Mega Auction, while Venkatesh Iyer seemed to have replaced him as India’s main pace-bowling all-rounder.
Gujarat Titans then signed Pandya and appointed him as their captain. Many fans were shocked to see GT appointing Hardik as the skipper, but the all-rounder silenced his critics by lifting his first IPL trophy as captain in IPL 2022.
Hardik then returned to the Indian team and made his captaincy debut at the international level as well. He was India’s captain in T20Is this year, while he was the deputy skipper of the Indian team, which finished runners-up in the 2023 World Cup.
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