Former Indian head coach Ravi Shastri shared his surprise at Mumbai Indians' (MI) decision not to retain all-rounder Hardik Pandya ahead of the IPL 2022 auction. The 28-year-old went on to sign for Gujarat Titans (GT), before also being named as the teams' captain.
During an interview with ESPNCricinfo, Shastri admitted his surprise at the decision, keeping in mind MI's abysmal form, "I was really surprised you know, when you look at Mumbai Indians, you know the way they have scouted the domestic players in the past, they have done extremely well. Now, these are boys from their stable. The Pandya brothers, no one had heard about them. No one had heard about Bumrah, you know, or Hardik, or Krunal. They brought them into the IPL, so I was really surprised that having really seen them grow and reach their peak, they are allowed to go."
During his time with Mumbai, Hardik has won the trophy four times - in 2015, 2017, 2019, and 2020. His excellent performances for the record IPL champions helped Hardik to also make his India debut, soon becoming an integral part of the national team.
However, the last two editions of the IPL saw Hardik play mostly as a batter as he suffered from recurring injuries. As he struggled with his fitness and played purely as a batter, MI decided against retaining him before the IPL 2022 auction.
MI went with Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Kieron Pollard, and Jasprit Bumrah as their four retentions. Meanwhile, Hardik Pandya was picked up by the Titans in the pre-IPL auction draft and named the captain of the side.
He has gone on to impress everyone with his leadership abilities, with his injury issues seemingly behind as he bowls his four overs regularly. With the bat, Hardik is now the third-highest run-getter in IPL 2022, with 228 runs in five innings including two half-century scores to his name after a slow start to the season.
Meanwhile, MI have been struggling in the ongoing IPL season, with five loss in as many matches. They are also yet to open their account on the points table. Many have questioned their strategy in the IPL 2022 mega auction, including the decision to spend Rs 15.25 crores on buying back Ishan Kishan.
They might have thought of buying Hardik Pandya back in the auction as well, but GT didn’t give them that chance.
