Former Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) team director Joy Bhattacharjya has voiced his disapproval of Hardik Pandya's recent switch from the Gujarat Titans (GT) to the Mumbai Indians (MI) ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 season. Bhattacharjya drew a parallel to the incident involving Ravindra Jadeja in the 2010 IPL season. Jadeja was banned for not signing a renewal contract with the Rajasthan Royals and attempting to force a move to the MI.
Bhattacharjya emphasised that such moves can be detrimental to the IPL's integrity and set a dangerous precedent for the future. He expressed concerns that encouraging such practices could potentially disrupt the balance of the league and undermine the spirit of fair competition.
"I do not think it is a great idea for the tournament because something similar almost happened in 2010. Ravindra Jadeja did not play a particular season because he wanted to move on and the franchise had signed him. He had said that he doesn't want to play for Rajasthan Royals anymore and so was banned for a year because they said that you cannot break the system. If a player suddenly says that take me from the auction but I do not want to play for you...and once you start encouraging this trend then it will not be a good idea to go down that road. That is why it was stopped in 2010. But in 2023, you have allowed this to happen with a big player. The truth of this is once you start allowing it, players will realise that if they can kick up enough of a fuss, the franchise will leave them...I don't think this is a good precedent for the league,” he said on Oaktree Sports YouTube channel.
“Gujarat had two options. They could have allowed him to leave, make some money out of trade and get some money for the organisation which is enough to retain another big name player. The other option is with Hardik saying that he wants to leave, I would get one season of mediocre performance from him. Then he will leave and I will get nothing from it. Gujarat hence couldn't have made any other choices given the circumstances,” he further added.
Former GT captain Hardik Pandya made a homecoming to his former franchise MI in a sensational player trade that left everyone stunned. This marks a remarkable turnaround for the star all-rounder, who led the Titans to a stunning IPL title victory in their debut season in 2022.
The trade involved an all-cash deal, with MI acquiring Pandya's services in exchange for a significant sum. To accommodate the financial implications of this move, the five-time champions MI traded Australian all-rounder Cameron Green to the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) for a hefty ₹17.5 crore.
Pandya's IPL journey began in 2015, making his debut for the MI as an uncapped player. With an initial contract of Rs 10 lakhs, Pandya quickly established himself as a valuable asset to the team, contributing significantly to their championship victories in 2015, 2017, 2019, and 2020. His all-round prowess, combining explosive batting with effective bowling, made him a key player in Mumbai's success. In 2022, Hardik Pandya's IPL career took an unexpected turn when he was released by the Paltans ahead of the mega auction. Mumbai, facing the challenge of retaining their core players, ended up retaining the likes of Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav, and Kieron Pollard leaving Pandya aside.
Retained Players: Akash Madhwal, Arjun Tendulkar, Cameron Green, Dewald Brevis, Ishan Kishan, Jason Behrendorff, Hardik Pandya (T), Jasprit Bumrah, Kumar Kartikeya Singh, N. Tilak Varma, Nehal Wadhera, Piyush Chawla, Rohit Sharma, Romario Shepherd (T), Shams Mulani, Surya Kumar Yadav, Tim David, Vishnu Vinod.
Released Players: Chris Jordan, Duan Jansen, Hrithik Shokeen, Jhye Richardson, Jofra Archer, Mohd. Arshad Khan, Raghav Goyal, Ramandeep Singh, Roley Meredith, Sandeep Warrier, Tristan Stubbs.
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