Former India player turned veteran commentator Aakash Chopra said Hardik Pandya’s reported move from the Gujarat Titans (GT) to the Mumbai Indians (MI) might not be as big a blow to the Gujarat Titans as it would have been before the Impact Player rule as well. However, Pandya has officially traded from GT to MI with Cameron Green consequently moving to the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) to make the requisite budget available as well.

Reflecting on the development in a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra said: “Gujarat would have gained financially but the team didn’t gain at all. A captain who won you the title in the first year and took you to the final in the second year is no longer a part of your squad. They might have thought something if they are doing that. It could be a business transaction or something else also. They will go looking for who they can get as Hardik Pandya’s replacement. Hardik Pandya was far more valuable before the Impact Player rule because no player had two skills.”

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Aakash Chopra also stated that the Titans can fill the all-rounder’s spot with a batter and a bowler. He further added that the Ahmedabad-based franchise might give the captaincy to youngster Shubman Gill. Chopra also feels Hardik Pandya leading the Indian team in T20I cricket despite potentially not leading his franchise in the IPL doesn’t seem right.

“The one thing that won’t look good on Hardik’s CV is that he left Mumbai because he wanted to become a captain. You went to Gujarat and then became the Indian captain. You will no longer be a franchise captain now but you still want to be India’s captain – it doesn’t sit right,” Aakash Chopra concluded. “It doesn’t look right whether you look from optics or any other angle, that you are not your franchise’s captain but are India’s captain in the T20 World Cup. It doesn’t sound right but so be it.”