Gujarat Titans (GT) skipper, Hardik Pandya is expecting an emotional showdown against his former franchise Mumbai Indians on Friday. Hardik’s side Gujarat Titans face the 5-time champions at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai. Hardik spent 7 seasons with Mumbai Indians during which the team won 4 titles as the all-rounder has amassed 1476 runs and picked up 42 wickets for them. He was an integral member of the Rohit Sharma-led winning machine.
However, on Friday, Hardik Pandya will be up against MI for the first time. Both teams have witnessed contrasting outings in the IPL season so far as Gujarat is a win away from potentially confirming their berth in the IPL 2022 playoffs. On the other hand, MI is all but out of playoffs contention after managing just 1 win in 9 matches.
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Speaking in the lead-up to the big clash, Hardik recalled some of his fond memories with MI, saying the knock against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at Chepauk in 2015 gave him a glimpse of popularity and fame. He also said he jokingly told Pollard that the former West Indies captain might end up playing for his franchise next year.
In a video shared by Gujarat Titans, Hardik Pandya said, “I have always seen myself in blue and gold but I am also in blue and gold with my home state, which is something even more special. I kind of got my first glimpse of success in that game (against CSK) where I scored 3 sixes when we needed 32 or something off 2 overs. A lot of memories are there, all my memories have been made with that team.”
A tale of two colours – blue and golden – in the words of #PapaPandya 😍
📽 Captain relives his MI memories before the clash of the day #GTvMI@hardikpandya7 #SeasonOfFirsts #AavaDe pic.twitter.com/4ZNe7Gh69v
— Gujarat Titans (@gujarat_titans) May 6, 2022
He further added, “I wish Polly (Pollard) has the best day for him but I hope we win. I messaged Polly a few days ago and said ‘hope you are okay, hope you are enjoying it’. I said we kind of missed him here. In a joking way, I said ‘you never know. you might come to us next year’. It’s my wish but I know it’s never going to happen.”
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Hardik and Pollard have been great mates on and off the field, having called the West Indies star ‘brother from another mother’ in the past. Pollard, who was retained by Mumbai Indians, is going through one of his leanest patches. The big-hitting star, who retired from international cricket last month, has managed to score just 125 runs in 9 matches for the 5-time champions at a paltry average of less than 20.
