IPL 2024: Ravichandran Ashwin gives verdict on Mumbai Indians’ decision to appoint Hardik Pandya as captain

Team India’s veteran off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has opened up on the debate surrounding Mumbai Indians (MI) decision to replace veteran batsman Rohit Sharma as captain. MI traded star all-rounder Hardik Pandya from Gujarat Titans (GT) and appointed him as the skipper of the team in place of Rohit ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024. However, the decision faced severe backlash from the fans.

As per Ashwin, MI’s move shows how desperate they are to regain the IPL crown.

“Hardik Pandya buy shows how hungry they are for number 6. Many people might have opinions about why it is right or wrong, or they might have taken it too easy. I am not going into that. This is a pride project. They play to win. And they have gone to that extent to buy a player. And you can say so many things, but when a team pulls off such a buy, you tend to think more,” said Ashwin on his YouTube channel.

“Think about it, if MI got Rashid Khan from GT instead of Pandya, it is unthinkable, right? In the EPL or the rest of European football, it happens like this. If this also goes like that, some teams will have the financial strain to match up to those teams, and equality is a question mark. But nevertheless, as MI has done this, it looks pretty clear that they are going for number 6,” the veteran spinner added.