IPL 2022: Ravi Shastri Feels Mumbai Indians Made Big Mistake By Not Retaining Hardik Pandya

Former India coach Ravi Shastri said that five-time Indian Premier League (IPL) champions erred by not retaining all-rounder Hardik Pandya ahead of the IPL 2022 auction. Pandya had been picked in IPL 2015 by the Mumbai Indians when he was a no-one.

He helped MI win IPL titles in 2015, 2017, 2019, and 2020, and in the course also made his India debut and became an integral part of the national team. However, in the last two editions of the IPL, in 2020 and 2021, Pandya played purely as a batter and this hampered the MI balance with Pandya struggling with his fitness, MI decided not to retain him before the IPL 2022 auction.

MI went with Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Kieron Pollard, and Jasprit Bumrah as their four retentions. Meanwhile, Hardik Pandya was picked up by the Gujarat Titans in the pre-IPL auction draft and named the captain of the side. And he has impressed one and all with his leadership abilities and showed he is back to his full fitness, bowling four overs regularly.

I Was Really Surprised To See Hardik Pandya And Krunal Pandya Let Go After Being Groomed By Mumbai Indians: Ravi Shastri

Meanwhile, MI have been struggling in the ongoing IPL 2022 as they have lost five matches in a row and are yet to open their account on the points table. Many have questioned their strategy in the IPL 2022 mega auction, where they spent INR 15.25 crores on buying back Ishan Kishan.

They might have thought of buying Hardik Pandya back in the auction as well, but GT didn’t give them that chance. Speaking to ESPNCricinfo amid Mumbai’s horror IPL 2022, Shastri admitted that he was really surprised that they did not retain Hardik.

“I was really surprised you know, when you look at Mumbai Indians, you know the way they have scouted the domestic players in the past, they have done extremely well. Now, these are are boys from their stable. The Pandya brothers, no one had heard about them. No one had heard about Bumrah, you know, or Hardik, or Krunal. They brought them into the IPL, so I was really surprised that having really seen them grow and reach their peak, that they are allowed to go,” he said.

Hardik is presently the second-highest run-getter in IPL 2022 with 228 runs in five innings with two half-century scores.

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