Hardik Pandya was the talk of the town on November 26th as it marked the final day for all 10 Indian Premier League teams to officially announce their list of released and retained players ahead of the IPL 2024 auction. The mini-auction, set to take place on December 19th outside of India for the first time in history, is expected to unfold at the Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai.
On the deadline day, Gujarat Titans had initially named their then-skipper Hardik Pandya in their list of retained players. However, as the day progressed, it became clear that Mumbai Indians would re-sign the all-rounder in a direct cash transaction with GT. A day later, MI officially announced that Pandya had returned to his former franchise and in return, the Mukesh Ambani-owned team paid INR 15 crores to GT in a trade deal.
MI also made space in their team and increased their purse sending Cameron Green to Royal Challengers Bangalore in exchange for INR 17.5 crores cash.
While MI fans were absolutely elated to welcome their hero back to the team, the deal did not go down well with former Kolkata Knight Riders team director Joy Bhattacharjya who completely dismissed the idea of teams getting involved in trades outside of the auction. Speaking on Oaktree Sports YouTube channel, Bhattacharjya expressed his concerns about the league allowing player trades outside of the auction.
He mentioned an incident involving Ravindra Jadeja in 2010 and how allowing such trades sets a negative precedent for the league, encouraging players to “kick up enough of a fuss” in order to leave their current team. He also suggested that Gujarat Titans had limited options and that they ultimately made the best choice given the circumstances.
The upcoming IPL 2024 auction and the recent trades have stirred excitement and controversy in the cricket world. As the auction date approaches, fans and analysts are eagerly anticipating the outcome and the impact it will have on the upcoming season.