Former Indian off-spinner and commentator Ravi Ashwin reckoned that as many as five Indian Premier League (IPL) teams are in battle to pick the ace Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya ahead of the IPL 2027 retention deadline.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Ashwin asserted that the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) are strong favourites to trade Hardik Pandya for Varun Chakravarthy or Harshit Rana and Rinku Singh. Further, he felt Rajasthan Royals are the other side that can benefit from the trade.
“KKR have great potential because Hardik can also become the captain there. They could offer Varun Chakaravarthy for him. But as long as Abhishek Nayar is there, I don’t think Varun will move from KKR. Harshit Rana and Rinku Singh could be other options. With RR, it could be Yashasvi Jaiswal and Sam Curran, or Brijesh Sharma or Tushar Deshpande. It could also be Jaiswal with Yash Raj Punja or Bishnoi,” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.
Subsequently, Ashwin observed that Gujarat Titans, Chennai Super Kings and Punjab Kings are the other three franchises that would be interested in trading Hardik to their franchises ahead of the mini-auction as the all-rounder is keen to move on from MI.
“MI desperately need an Indian keeper. They will also look to strengthen their bowling, which has been dismal the last few years. PBKS with Omarzai could interest MI. No one is talking about GT, but they could get involved by giving Rashid Khan for Hardik,” he added.
“There are as many as six teams in battle for Hardik Pandya, is what I hear. But I don’t think that’s the case, as LSG aren’t in the race. It’s mainly CSK, KKR, RR, GT and PBKS. I also think captaincy isn’t a must for Hardik anymore in his next franchise. He will just want to go to the ideal franchise for him, as he’s keen to move on from MI,” he concluded.
