Hyderabad: India's flamboyant all-rounder Hardik Pandya is set for a return to the Mumbai Indians franchise for the next IPL, with a one-way all-cash trade deal nearing completion.
The India cricketer's name, though, figured in the list of retained players announced by his existing franchise Gujarat Titans on Sunday, the last day of the player release and retention. The trading window, however, will be open until December 12 while the mini auction will be held on December 19 in Dubai. Pandya began his Indian Premier League career with MI in 2015 and was a part of the side until 2021. He won four titles with the Mumbai Indians.
Following the inclusion of Gujarat Titans into the competition in 2022, he was picked up by the Ahmedabad-based franchise and was also made the captain of the side. He led GT to title success in their debut season and helped them finish as the runners-up in IPL 2023. Speculations were rife that Pandya could rejoin Mumbai Indians, ending his two-year association with the Titans ahead of the IPL 2024.
While the Mumbai side named Rohit Sharma as their captain for IPL 2024, England pacer Jofra Archer has been released. Archer is still recuperating from an elbow surgery. The move will make Pandya one of the few captains to be traded in the IPL, joining the likes of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ajinkya Rahane, who were traded in 2020.
Gujarat Titans retained batters David Miller, Shubman Gill, Matthew Wade, wicket-keeper Wriddhiman Saha, New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson, Abhinav Manohar, B Sai Sudharsan, Darshan Nalkande, Vijay Shankar, Jayant Yadav, Rahul Tewatia, pacer Mohammed Shami, Noor Ahmad, R Sai Kishore, all-rounder Rashid Khan, Josh Little, Mohit Sharma.
The franchise released Yash Dayal, KS Bharat, Shivam Mavi, Urvil Patel, Pradeep Sangwan, Odean Smith, Alzarri Joseph and Sri Lankan Dasun Shanaka.
Meanwhile, Rajasthan Royals has retained 17 players ahead of the Indian Premier League 2024 auction. The franchise has retained 12 Indians and five overseas players. Nine players (six Indians, three overseas) are being released from their contracts. RR traded Devdutt Padikkal with Lucknow Super Giants, with pacer Avesh Khan joining the Royals.
Captain Sanju Samson, Indian spin duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal, Jos Buttler, New Zealand pacer Trent Boult, Australian spinner Adam Zampa, West Indies' batter Shimron Hetmyer, Indian internationals Prasidh Krishna, Navdeep Saini, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sandeep Sharma and Kuldeep Sen have been retained by the franchise.
The team has also continued with exciting young all-rounder Riyan Parag along with the wicketkeeper-batter trio of South Africa's Donovan Ferreira, Uttar Pradesh's Dhruv Jurel and Rajasthan's Kunal Singh Rathore. Rajasthan Royals has released Devdutt Padikkal (traded to Lucknow Super Giants), Murugan Ashwin, KC Cariappa, KM Asif, Akash Vashisht, Abdul Bazith, Kuldip Yadav, Joe Root, Jason Holder and Obed McCoy.
Royals' Director of Cricket, Kumar Sangakkara said that they are excited to be retaining a strong core of players "who we believe have the ability to win matches for the team".
"As a high-performance outfit, our goal is to keep refining across various aspects and we have been able to identify the areas where we need to improve considering the different combinations required to win matches during the course of an IPL season," added Sangakkara.
"On the other hand, every year, this is also a difficult time as you have to let go of some of the players who have contributed immensely to the team and its environment. We would like to take this opportunity to thank them for everything they've done for the Royals, and wish them the very best for what's to come," the Sri Lankan legend was quoted as saying in a statement issued by Rajasthan Royals.