It’s confirmed! Hardik Pandya has officially been traded to the Mumbai Indians ahead of the IPL 2024 auction. The trade rumours have been going around for the last week; however, they seemed unlikely. Pandya had led the Gujarat Titans to two consecutive finals in 2022 and 2023, winning the title in their debut season (2022). Despite his massive success as captain, it seemed like either the all-rounder or the franchise (GT) weren’t happy. Shockingly, Hardik isn’t the first IPL captain to be traded in the past 16 editions of the Indian Premier League. Here are all the instances of IPL captains being traded:
Instances of IPL captain trade
| Captain | Year | Trade |
|---|---|---|
| Hardik Pandya | 2023 | GT to MI |
| Ravichandran Ashwin | 2019 | RR to DC |
| Ajinkya Rahane | 2020 | PBKS to DC |
Unlike Pandya, both Ravichandran Ashwin and Ajinkya Rahane had underwhelming years as captains. Ashwin’s Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings) finished 6th, and Rahane’s Rajasthan Royals ended the season ranked 7th on the points table.
How the Hardik Pandya trade saga unfolded
It’s still unclear how and what triggered the trade deal. In his two-year tenure, Hardik Pandya has led the Gujarat Titans to the IPL title in 2022 and the IPL final in 2023. Hardly any team has been as consistent as GT in the last two seasons. Hardik Pandya has a record of winning 70.96% of the matches, as GT won 22 out of 31 games in the last two editions, making him one of the most successful leaders of the IPL.
But on the retention deadline day, he completed a move to the Mumbai Indians for a trade record of Rs 15 crore. However, the Gujarat Titans won’t be taking any players from the Mumbai Indians.
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