Hardik Pandya involved in animated chat with Ashish Nehra, Rohit Sharma meets Sachin Tendulkar ahead of GT vs MI clash

Hardik Pandya was the focal point ahead of the GT vs MI IPL 2024 match at the Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad. Mumbai Indians traded him back to the franchise ahead of IPL 2024.

As per several reports, Mumbai Indians paid Gujarat Titans nearly 100 crores to bring Pandya back. Notably, Mumbai had just Rs 15.25 crore in their kitty after releasing ten players, including English pacer Jofra Archer. But with Green moving to RCB, they have 17.25 crore as their remaining purse ahead of the IPL 2024 auction on December 19 in Dubai.

Given the trading between Mumbai and Gujarat has been an all-cash deal, 30-year-old Pandya will get a salary of Rs 15 crore at MI. Pandya will also get 50 percent of the undisclosed transfer given to GT by MI.

Ahead of the match between the two sides, Hardik Pandya was seen having an animated conversation with Ashish Nehra, his coach at Gujarat Titans in IPL 2022 and 2023. Given that he won the IPL title with Gujarat in IPL 2022 and took them to the finals in IPL 2023, his trade to Mumbai was the biggest talking point after the auction.

Rohit Sharma the former Mumbai Indians skipper had a meet-up with the Mumbai Indians mentor Sachin Tendulkar. Rohit asked to leave captaincy after Hardik’s assumption was an equally shocking move by the management. The management was targeted and trolled for asking the Indian cricketer to step down.

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Hardik Pandya, Rohit Sharma Meets Ashish Nehra, Sachin Tendulkar

Meanwhile, ahead of the start of IPL 2024, Ashish Nehra opened up on why the Gujarat Titans management allowed him to return back to Mumbai Indians after two successful years with the franchise.

“I never tried to convince Pandya to stay back. As you play more, you gain experience. I could have stopped him had he gone to any other franchise. He (Pandya) played here for two years but he has gone to a team (MI), where he has played previously for 5-6 years,” Nehra said.

Shubman Gill then was appointed as the captain of the franchise. He finished as the top run-getter for the franchise in IPL 2023 with 890 runs for the season. He is also seen as a potential captain of the Indian cricket team which is why the management backed him to lead the side.

Shubman Gill and Hardik Pandya walked out at the toss with Mumbai Indians winning the toss and opting to bowl first. Hardik was greeted with a lot of boos at the toss at the home ground of the Titans.

“We are gonna bowl first. Looks like a decent track, might get better if dew comes. Feels good to be back. My birthplace is in Gujarat, very grateful to this state. My cricketing birth happened in Mumbai, happy to be back. It’s been two weeks we started the camp. Boys are eager to perform. We had wonderful practice matches. The excitement is a different feeling. We have four quicks, three spinners and seven batters. Making sure all the departments are looked after,” he added at the toss.

Before this game, Hardik Pandya scored 1476 runs and picked up 42 wickets for Mumbai Indians between 2015 to 2021.

Also Read: Watch: Hardik Pandya receives hostile reception at Narendra Modi Stadium as fans slam him for leaving GT