Mumbai Indians have complete the trade for Hardik Pandya from Gujarat Titans and also traded their allrounder Cameron Green to Royal Challengers Bangalore in order to increase their purse for the IPL player auction on 19th December 2023.
Nita Ambani, owner of Mumbai Indians, said :
“We are thrilled to welcome Hardik back home! It’s a heartwarming reunion with our Mumbai Indians family,”.
“From being a young talent of Mumbai Indians to now being a team India star, Hardik has come a long way and we’re excited for what the future holds for him and Mumbai Indians!”
Akash Ambani, owner of Mumbai Indians, said :
“Seeing Hardik back at Mumbai Indians makes me very happy. It is a happy homecoming. He provides great balance to any team he plays. Hardik’s first stint with the MI family was hugely successful, and we hope he achieves even more success in his second stint.”
As GT purse will increase by INR 15 crore, which was Hardik’s salary, they will also receive from Mumbai an additional transfer fee which they will need to disclose to IPL.
Hardik Pandya stands to earn up to 50% of that transfer fee from GT based on the mutual agreement.
This developments came after deadline for franchises to announce lists of players release and retain ahead of the auction.
At the time of the deadline, Hardik Pandya was still part of the GT and Cameron Green was include in Mumbai’s list of retain players.
Aa per the IPL rules, the player trading window starts a month after a season ends, stays open up to a week before the auction date, and then continues up until a month before the start of the next season.
Means the current trading window is open until 12th December 2023, with the auction schedule for 19th December 2023, and it will open again on 20th December 2023 up to a month before the 2024 season begins.
MI had release 11 players by the retention deadline, freeing up Rs. 15.25 crore in their auction purse.
And that amount was just about enough to pay for the Hardik Pandya trade (Rs. 15 crore), it would have left MI with very little to spend at the auction.
By trading Cameron Green to RCB in an all-cash deal MI adds more Rs. 17.50 crore to their purse.
GT own by global fund manager CVC Capital Partners, came into existence in 2021, they were allow to pick three players from the pool release by other franchises before the 2022 mega auction.
Gujrat Titans sign Hardik Pandya and Afghanistan allrounder Rashid Khan for Rs. 15 crore each, with Shubman Gill their third pick at Rs. 7 crore.
Hardik Pandya began his IPL career from MI and develop into one of the best allrounders in the game.
He was a part of MI title-winning seasons in 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2020.
But, Hardik Pandya was finally release ahead of the 2022 mega auction, a decision that came as a surprise.
MI were allow to retain only four players that year and they chose to keep Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav and Kieron Pollard, paving the way for GT to sign Hardik Pandya as their captain.
As Hardik Pandya name was in the retention list submit by Gujarat Titans on 26th November 2023 was the deadline for the IPL franchises to submit their retention lists and although many reports claim that Hardik Pandya will be returning to MI, he feature in the GT list.
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But, many sources and reports confirm that his move to MI was complete as part of an all-cash deal.
This was possible because although the retention deadline had end but the trading window will close on 12th December 2023.
During this interval, all trades between the IPL franchises will be valid and as a result, Hardik Pandya’s trade to MI was complete despite GT naming the all-rounder in their list of retain players.
As said, the IPL 2024 mini-auction will take place on 19th December 2023 in Dubai.
