Former Indian cricketer Subramaniam Badrinath commented on Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya’s trade deal ahead of IPL 2027. Several reports have suggested that the star all-rounder will join Chennai Super Kings (CSK). However, it is being said that Hardik would move to any franchise only if he were offered captaincy as well. That said, Badrinath added that it would be unfair on current CSK captain Ruturaj Gaikwad if Hardik came in and took away the captaincy as well. He said that the current skipper should be given at least another year.
“If Hardik comes, you will take the captaincy from Gaikwad and give it to Hardik? I will not agree with this. It will be very harsh on [Ruturaj] Gaikwad. They gave him captaincy in 2025, but he got injured and did not play the majority of the season, and MS Dhoni led in that season. 2026 was the season where he fully led as captain. Yes, he did not do as great, I agree. He did lead in 2024 too, but I feel he should get one more season as captain. I think CSK will also do that,” he said in a video on his YouTube channel.
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“There is one more year in this cycle before the mega auction so probably CSK will give him one more year. Gaikwad the batter is someone I really like and I have said it before too. We don’t know who the new coach also will be. So we have to wait and see,” he again shared.
While rumours and reports shared that Hardik Pandya is likely to move to either Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) or CSK, Subramaniam Badrinath picked IPL’s inaugural champions, Rajasthan Royals (RR), as another option for Hardik Pandya as well. He slammed RR captain Riyan Parag, stating that his captaincy was not as great or impactful as well.
“Rajasthan could also be an option, as Riyan Parag did not have much impact as captain. Tell me what he did as captain? Is he MS Dhoni or Rohit Sharma? Is his captaincy of that level? Records are in front of you. I have nothing against any player personally,” Badrinath concluded.
