Speculation is rife among the fans and several experts that the captain of the Gujarat Titans (GT) and star all-rounder Hardik Pandya may leave the team and potentially return to the Mumbai Indians (MI) ahead of the next edition of cash-rich Indian Premier League (IPL).
MI have not yet given any comment over the development. Fans and analysts will have to wait until November 26, the closing day for IPL’s trading window, for any official confirmation in this regard.
However, during a television show last January, journalist Rahul Rawat, who is known to be close to BCCI, had earlier claimed about the development.
“Hardik Pandya has earlier played for Mumbai Indians. I will not be astonished if he returns to Mumbai Indians fold. It may not happen in this season. However, he will be part of MI’s ranks in the next season. Don’t be surprised if Hardik becomes the captain of Mumbai Indians,” said Rahul during the television show.
The video clip of Rahul’s statement has reportedly gone viral over social media platform X (Earlier known as Twitter). It has so far garnered over 159.3 k views.
Several fans have flooded the comments box with interesting comments.
“Sad but unfortunate. These guys should not have access to anything inside from BCCI. They should be treated like reporters. Remember Boria Majumdar?” wrote a fan.
“But they didn’t leak or write an article about it. During Kohli’s time, even day, at least 2 articles of different versions used to get leaked even amidst tournaments,” tweeted another fan.
In response to Rahul’s comment, a third user wrote, “Ye ipl ka rule e khilaf he bahar se settlement player ke saat.”