Former India player turned veteran commentator Aakash Chopra has opined that IPL 2025 will give a great opportunity to Mumbai Indians (MI) captain Hardik Pandya to prove himself as a good leader once again. He added that the all-rounder no longer seems to be a captaincy candidate for India in any of the formats as well. However, Hardik (₹16.35 crore) was among MI’s five retentions ahead of the IPL 2025
auction as well.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel ‘Aakash Chopra,’ he said, “The biggest opportunity is for Hardik Pandya. He was almost the heir apparent to Rohit Sharma at one point. He used to be the captain wherever Rohit Sharma wasn’t there. It was almost a given that he would be the white-ball captain. However, suddenly, he has gone out of the captaincy list. No one is even discussing him. He is not even being made the vice-captain. The guy has performed strongly. He is a clutch player. He is the one who delivers almost every single time in clutch situations. He won the Gujarat Titans the title and took them to the final the second year.”
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“After that, suddenly, he is nowhere. He is not in the captaincy list. So it will be a season of slight personal redemption for him. Can he as a captain take the Mumbai Indians to their former glory? Of course, there will be acceptance this time, but I think the biggest opportunity lies with Hardik Pandya,” Chopra further added.
However, Aakash Chopra also stated that IPL 2025 also presents Deepak Chahar with a chance to return to national team through impressive
performances with the new ball for the Mumbai Indians as well.
“I think it’s a massive opportunity for Deepak Chahar because he has gone slightly out of the T20 scheme of things, but this is the ground. If he remains fit and plays the entire season, the Wankhede Stadium can make his dreams come true because if he starts picking up wickets with the new ball, suddenly you will find that he is in the reckoning for Team India again,” Aakash Chopra concluded.
