Hardik Pandya, the new captain of Mumbai Indians (MI), was filmed receiving a warm welcome at Reliance Industries in Jamnagar, Gujarat, and it’s all over social media. Reliance Industries, by the way, owns the Mumbai Indians team in the Indian Premier League (IPL) via its entire subsidiary, Indiawin Sports.
There was some confusion last month when Mumbai Indians traded Hardik Pandya from Gujarat Titans (GT). Regardless, once the deal was settled, MI moved forward in appointing Pandya as their IPL 2024 captain, taking over from Rohit Sharma. This choice stirred mixed reactions among Mumbai and Rohit’s loyal fans.
A video has gone viral on social media showing Hardik Pandya being greeted with horses and band music upon his arrival in Jamnagar. The footage is from December 19, according to X user Kirpal Sinh, who submitted the popular clip.
मुबई इंडियंस के कप्तान रिलायंस इंडस्ट्रीज जामनगर पहुंचे।
उनका स्वागत घोड़े और बाजा से किया गया…..
(19 decemcer)@hardikpandya7♥️#HardikPandya #MumbaiIndians #ViratKohli #RohitSharma pic.twitter.com/SYRDMFcOeS— Kirpal sinh (hardik♥️) (@ChauhanKirpal11) December 27, 2023
In their first IPL season in 2022, Gujarat Titans, with Hardik Pandya at the helm, claimed victory. The next year, though? Not as lucky. They came in second after a tough final with Chennai Super Kings at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
Before kicking off the 2022 IPL mega auction, Mumbai Indians released 30-year-old Hardik Pandya. Between 2015 to 2021, he was a key player for them.
In his 92 matches for MI, he has a strike rate of 153.91 and an average of 27.33 with a total of 1476 runs. On the bowling side? He’s nabbed 42 wickets with a 9.06 economy rate and an average of 31.26.
Will Hardik Pandya be available for IPL 2024?
Mumbai Indians, despite announcing Hardik Pandya as their leader for IPL 2024, face uncertain news about his participation in the forthcoming T20 league season.
It’s reported by the news agency, PTI, that we might not see Pandya in the Afghanistan T20I series at home in January or IPL 2024. These words come undirected but quoted from a BCCI source:
“There is no update on Hardik’s fitness status as of now and one can say there remains a big question mark of him being available before the end of IPL.”
Hardik Pandya
According to a report in the Times of India, Hardik Pandya has healed from his ankle injury and will play in the series against Afghanistan as well as the IPL 2024.
The all-rounder was last seen in action against Bangladesh in the 2023 World Cup league match in Pune. During the game, he hurt himself while attempting to stop a ball in the follow through.