Aakash Chopra believes Hardik Pandya’s reported transfer from the Gujarat Titans (GT) to the Mumbai Indians (MI) may not be as devastating to the IPL 2022 winners as it would have been prior to the Impact Player rule.
Hardik Pandya has not yet been formally swapped from GT to MI. According to sources, the all-rounder will return to his previous organization, with Cameron Green transferring to the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) to make the necessary funds available.
In a video posted to his YouTube channel, Chopra said that Pandya’s impending departure will be a tremendous loss for the Gujarat Titans as skipper, but may not be as significant a blow skill-wise. He elaborated:
“Gujarat would have gained financially but the team didn’t gain at all. A captain who won you the title in the first year and took you to the final in the second year is no longer a part of your squad. They might have thought something if they are doing that.”
Aakash Chopra
The former India opener added:
“It could be a business transaction or something else also. They will go looking for who they can get as Hardik Pandya’s replacement. Hardik Pandya was far more valuable before the Impact Player rule because no player had two skills.”
Aakash Chopra
Chopra stated that the Titans may replace the all-rounder with a batsman and a bowler. He also mentioned that the Ahmedabad-based franchise may award Shubman Gill the leadership.
“It doesn’t sit right” – Aakash Chopra on Hardik Pandya’s T20I Captaincy
Aakash Chopra believes Hardik Pandya captaining the Men in Blue in T20I cricket despite perhaps not captaining his IPL franchise is incorrect. He said:
“The one thing that won’t look good on Hardik’s CV is that he left Mumbai because he wanted to become a captain. You went to Gujarat and then became the Indian captain. You will no longer be a franchise captain now but you still want to be India’s captain – it doesn’t sit right.”
Aakash Chopra
The cricketer-turned-commentator continued:
“It doesn’t look right whether you look from optics or any other angle, that you are not your franchise’s captain but are India’s captain in the T20 World Cup. It doesn’t sound right but so be it.”
Aakash Chopra
The Mumbai Indians may consider handing Pandya the captaincy, especially if Rohit Sharma decides to retire from T20I cricket.