Did MI Pay 100 Crore To Gujarat Titans for Hardik Pandya?
Pandya's switch to Mumbai Indians amid a hefty transfer fee raised eyebrows, especially with his captaincy appointment and injury concerns affecting his potential IPL participation.
As you all know, star all-rounder Hardik Pandya left then Gujarat Titans (GT) to rejoin his former IPL franchise, the Mumbai Indians (MI) for IPL 2024. Just a few days back, Hardik was appointed as the new MI captain replacing Rohit Sharma. Pandya was transferred in an all-cash trade deal with the Gujarat Titans. But according to a recent report, the Gujarat Titans' deal for Pandya with the Mumbai Indians was basically a 'win-win' situation. Mumbai signed Pandya in a mega transfer deal from the Titans in a deal worth Rs 15 crore.By selling Hardik, GT's purse went up by Rs 15 crore and they also got a transfer fee from Mumbai. Apparently, MI paid a massive transfer fee of Rs 100 crore to the Gujarat Titans to complete the deal. However, there is speculation about the amount. Some news reports stated that the earnings from the Hardik trade will reflect on the Gujarat Titan’s balance sheet at the end of the financial year. Transfer fee is involved when a player is traded from his existing IPL team to another team and is decided by the player himself and the selling team. The player who is sold is also likely to earn a certain percentage from the transfer fee if he already has an agreement in place with his existing team. A lot of fans were upset that Rohit Sharma was replaced as the Captain and instead Pandya was made the captain. One big reason why MI moved for Hardik was because of the IPL mega auction, which takes place every three years, scheduled in December 2024. All the 10 franchises will be allowed to retain four players for the next three seasons (2025, 2026 and 2027) and MI felt Hardik was one for the future in place of Rohit, who is 36 now. This is why MI took this difficult leadership call because of IPL's unique retention rule, 2024 happens to be the last season before the mega auction 2025, that takes place every three years. '2025 will be the year of the big auction and it will be the time when teams will list four players they wish to continue till 2028. Also now there are rumours that due to the injury, Hardik Pandya might not be able to play the IPL. We will have to wait and watch.
