'He Played For That Team For so Many Years': Ashish Nehra on Hardik Pandya Re-joining Mumbai Indians

Gujarat Titans head coach Ashish Nehra has opened up on Hardik Pandya’s decision to leave the 2022 IPL champions to join Mumbai Indians. The big move stunned the cricketing world as Pandya led the Titans to back-to-back finals in their first two seasons and the move was certainly unexpected.

Five-time champions MI traded Cameron Green to Royal Challengers Bangalore to get the funds to sign back Pandya in the trading window ahead of the auction. Recently, he was also named the new captain of the franchise.

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For Nehra, it was not a huge surprise as Pandya represented MI for several years and expressed his desire to return there.

“Hardik Pandya has not gone back to a team that has caused a huge surprise. He played for that team for so many years, he showed his desire to go back there. Our management’s nature is such that, we think if a player wants to go there, right,” Nehra said on JioCinema after IPL 2024 Auction.

The Titans made a memorable IPL debut in 2022, winning their maiden title under the leadership of Pandya. The last two seasons saw several youngsters coming to the fore while out-of-favour veterans also rose up and shone brightly.

The runners-up of last season have already announced their captain of next season in Shubman Gill but Nehra admitted replacing Pandya as the player is difficult but they did their best in the auction to fill in the big gap.

“He should be happy and that’s why he has gone there again. Replacing someone like Hardik Pandya is difficult, but we tried our best,” he added.

Nehra further pointed out that the players they have signed to play the role which Pandya used to play for them as an allrounder.

“Having the size of 25 members is a luxury. We got a great all-rounder like Omarzai, we also got Shahrukh Khan. But it will be difficult to make up for somebody like Hardik who has that much talent and that much experience. It is what it is. With the resources we have, we will try and do our best,” Nehra said.