Why Did Hardik Pandya Leave MI After IPL 2021?

Less than two years after he made his T20 debut for Baroda against Mumbai, Hardik Pandya was playing for Mumbai Indians in the cash-rich Indian Premier League. A player whose potential was there to be seen from the word go, Pandya was predicted to represent India within 18 months by Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar that very season.

Pandya, who played seven seasons for MI between 2015-2021, subsequently joined Gujarat Titans as a captain ahead of IPL 2022. A sure-starter in the Playing XI because of his all-round offerings, Pandya didn’t have to think twice regarding zeroing in on GT after being approached by head coach Ashish Nehra.

Why Did Hardik Pandya Leave MI After 2021?

Having made his IPL debut under Rohit Sharma, Pandya once admitted to have had his best years under him. However, he never left the franchise. In fact, Indians didn’t retain him before IPL 2022 mega auction.

One of the few franchises which have openly opposed the concept of mega auction in the recent years, Mumbai hadn’t released Pandya on purpose. Blame it on the nature of auction dynamics that they had to forcefully let go of a successful seven-year old association.

Apart from captain Sharma, fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah, the then vice-captain Kieron Pollard and batter Suryakumar Yadav were among the four players retained by MI post IPL 2021.

To be fair to Mumbai, they had valid reasons to not retain Pandya. With serious doubts with respect to the right-arm bowler’s bowling future on the back of fitness concerns at the time, there was no way they would’ve retained him ahead of the aforementioned names. Indians’ highest run-scorer since joining the franchise for the second time in 2018, even Yadav was above Pandya in the pecking order.

Other than Hardik, elder brother Krunal Pandya and wicket-keeper batter Ishan Kishan were also not retained by them. Second-most expensive Indian player in the history of IPL auctions, Kishan was bought back by Indians during IPL 2022 auction. While Hardik’s future had already been sealed, Krunal failed to invite a single bid from one of the most successful IPL teams.