Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya has already bee considered as the next ‘big thing’ of Indian cricket. He has been with Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Mumbai Indians from the start of his career.

However, now it seems that Hardik will be considering quitting the MI squad ahead of the IPL 2018 player auction. If this happens, then there are sufficient chances that Pandya might break the records and become the highest paid IPL player in the history of the league. MI got the youngster for a mere INR 10 lakhs for his services in 2015. However, the retention policy is still not clear between the IPL franchises. All the details related to the purse of franchises to the number of players who can be retained will be decided in a meeting to be held on November 14.

According to a report from Times of India, Pandya has expressed his desire to be in the auction for next year. One of the top board officials said, “Hardik wants to be at the auction and the rule says that if he isn’t ready to play for Mumbai Indians, he can certainly be at the auction. Pandya could be the next big thing in the IPL if he is at the auction. After all, the teams will retain big India players like Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma.”

If Hardik enters the IPL 2018 player auction, it can be expected that every franchise will try to bid on him. The all-rounder has been lethal with the bat in the previous season. He has been a nightmare for spinners and he hits them out of the park effortlessly. Also, his ability with the ball has improved drastically and can be a crucial cog for any team who succeed in signing him.

There have been speculations that Pandya can be roped in by Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in IPL 2018 player auction. RCB has always been known to bid big for a certain player. Pandya’s auction can cause ripple and might go down as the most expensive deal in the history of cricket leagues across the world.