Former South African batsman AB de Villiers feels that if Hardik Pandya is traded from Gujarat Titans (GT) to Mumbai Indians (MI), he will skipper the five-time IPL winners going ahead.
In the two seasons that Hardik headed GT, he won the championship and then brought them within striking distance of another. De Villiers believes that with Rohit Sharma continuing to captain India, Hardik can lighten the load by taking on the role of captaining MI.
Here’s what AB de Villiers had to say about Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya in a video on his YouTube channel:
“I have a funny feeling Rohit is going to let him (Hardik) captain. Rohit carries a lot of pressure of captaining Team India. Maybe that is going to be the move.”
AB de Villiers
AB de Villiers on Hardik Pandya’s MI Return
AB de Villiers stated that he was unaware of the specifics of the all-cash exchange involving Hardik Pandya that was taking place between Mumbai and Gujarat. However, he believes that having one of their previous top players back will be a huge coup for MI.
De Villiers believes that after winning the IPL with the Titans, Hardik may have thought it was time to move on to a new challenge. In response, he stated:
“It’s a big news for Mumbai Indians. He (Hardik) was a big player for Mumbai for many years. He loved playing at the Wankhede Stadium. He won the trophy with GT and then also went to the final (next season). He probably feels his time there is done.”
AB de Villiers
With each team receiving an additional INR 5 crore, it would be intriguing to watch how Mumbai Indians makes room for at least 10 crore more to prepare for Hardik’s likely arrival.