CHENNAI: As the Men in Blue were set to play their second T20I against Australia in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday evening, the contest was not even among the top ten talking points and trends in Indian cricket. With the speculations doing rounds for several days that Gujarat Titans captain and India all-rounder Hardik Pandya is all set to return to Mumbai Indians through an all-cash deal, when the official news came that the current franchise has retained him, all hell broke loose on social media.
Now, to make some things clear, November 26 is the deadline for retentions and not trades between franchises. The teams are allowed to trade players until December 12, one week before the IPL auction. Over the past few days, the return of Hardik back to his old IPL franchise has been the buzz of the town and understandably so. However, there were always going to be constraints especially when the deal involves such high-profile names. For starters, how much can Mumbai afford to pay. After all, they had paid a hefty fee to retain Jofra Archer, who was released on Sunday. Even if they come to an agreement where there is a negotiated increase — where Rs 15 crore will be deducted from their purse and the remaining amount will be split between Hardik and Titans upon agreed terms — they would still need enough money in the purse going into the auction.
As per the official release from the IPL which came around 9.49 PM on Sunday night, Hardik is still with Titans as captain and Mumbai has a purse value of Rs 15.25 crore. With this money it would have been impossible for them to get Hardik back, but what makes it possible is the trading window which is open till December 12. With Mumbai Indians reportedly striking an all-cash deal to trade off Australia all-rounder Cameron Green to Royal Challengers Bangalore for Rs 17.5 crore, the five-time champions might just have enough cash to get the deal done and bring back Hardik to Mumbai and go into the auction with reasonable amount in the purse.
None of it has been made official by the BCCI or the franchises yet. In fact, Titans are the only franchise to remain quiet on social media on a day where every other franchise were bidding farewell and posting the group of players they have retained. Which is why, it should not come as a surprise if the BCCI and the franchises come out with a confirmation in less than 24 hours. And when it happens, it would be the third time a captain was traded in the history of the Indian Premier League. What this move would also mean is that Shubman Gill would become a straightforward captaincy candidate for the Titans. The youngster has been in stellar form for the past couple of years and his reputation in international cricket has only grown strength to strength. It would be the perfect timing to give additional responsibility to the 24-year-old and see if he could be groomed as a future captain for the country as well. After all, when Rohit Sharma took over the captaincy of Mumbai Indians in 2013, he was 23.
While Hardik, Mumbai and Gujarat have dominated the discussions, there were other key talking points from the retentions as well. For instance, M Shahrukh Khan has been released by Punjab Kings and he is expected to go for big money once again. Harry Brook was released by Sunrisers Hyderabad and so was Shardul Thakur by Kolkata Knight Riders. RCB, once again, made some calls that made everyone raise eyebrows. They have released Wanindu Hasaranga, Michael Bracewell and Josh Hazlewood and if they go on to get Green for the aforementioned price, they would be left with a purse of `23.25 crore and six slots to fill. Mumbai also got Romario Shepherd for `50 lakh from Lucknow Super Giants. Delhi Capitals, meanhwile, retained Rishabh Pant and expect him to comeback for the season. They have also retained Prithvi Shaw despite the off-field controversies involving the opener during the last season.
Chennai Super Kings, too, have made a slew of releases, increasing their purse value to `31.4 crore. It will be interesting to see how the MS Dhoni-led side go about their business in the auction considering their needs for the middle-order. SRH have `34 crore and KKR will have `32.7 crore.
