Before the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 auction, Mumbai Indians made the bold decision to go with Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Kieron Pollard, and Jasprit Bumrah, while leaving out two of their other consistent players, Hardik Pandya and Ishan Kishan. Here in this article, we have talked in detail about what Sunil Gavaskar has said on Hardik Pandya vs MI.
Ishan, the left-handed opening batter, was signed back during the auctions. Hardik, on the other hand, became the Gujarat Titans’ pre-draft pick as well as the captain. Now that the league is approaching the playoffs, the Pandya-led GT is on top of the standings, while the five-time champions MI are at the bottom.
Gujarat Titans take on Mumbai Indians on Friday, and a win will almost certainly guarantee the debutants a spot in the play-offs. Before the clash of the titans, everyone is wondering whether the all-rounder will blast like David Warner or not against his former team.
Indian cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar has expressed his views on whether Hardik Pandya vs MI will be the same as David Warner playing against Sunrisers Hyderabad.
“To win will mean they (GT) qualify. So that becomes important. Obviously, he would want to do his best against the team. But he also owes so much to the Mumbai Indians. MI was the first to give him the break when he really wasn’t known outside Baroda. He and Krunal. And from there both of them have come out so well,” said Sunil Gavaskar.
He further added, “They are brilliant and top-class cricketers. He would want to do well because he wasn’t retained, but each team could only retain 3 or 4 players. And MI took the right decision by retaining the players they did. And they were also probably hoping they would buy him back, but that didn’t work out. But it surely won’t be like what we saw today with Warner against SRH. What happened last year (with Warner) wasn’t a pleasant one that we all saw. So, it will not be the same for Hardik vs Mumbai Indians.”
Hardik Pandya’s leadership has been a revelation this season, and he’d like to put his best foot forward against his former team, who chose not to retain him.
Hardik’s decision to join Gujarat Titans has worked out well for him so far, but MI has missed the big hitter’s presence in their line-up and are currently last in the points table and out of contention for the IPL 2022 playoffs.
