Hardik Pandya back in Mumbai Indians after intense drama: Reports
New Delhi, Nov 26: India's T20I captain Hardik Pandya on Sunday returned to his "spiritual home" Mumbai Indians after an all-cash deal trade-off with Gujarat Titans was formally completed following 72 hours of intense drama.
On Sunday at 5 pm, the IPL retention window was closed and at that point, Gujarat Titans named their IPL-winning captain in the retention list raising a lot of eyebrows.
However it was learnt that the formal paperwork wasn't yet completed and hence IPL and BCCI didn't give greenlight of approval for the most anticipated move of this transfer season.
"Yes, Hardik's trade off got completed after 5 pm. The deal is now formalised and he is a MI player. It's been a tripartite all cash deal. MI have traded their all-rounder Cameron Green to RCB in an all cash deal. After that they had requisite funds to settle an all-cash deal with Gujarat Titans and procure Hardik's services," a senior BCCI official and IPL Governing Council member told PTI on conditions of anonymity.
It must be mentioned that Green was bought by MI for a whopping Rs 17.5 crore during last auction and hence the money required to buy Hardik wasn't available till that deal was inked.
Pandya was picked by Gujarat Titans before 2022 auction from the list of available players for the two new franchises -- GT and Lucknow Super Giants.
His reported fee was Rs 15 crore and he led the side to back-to-back finals, winning the championship in maiden year and losing a thriller to CSK in 2023.
Mumbai Indians, who have one of the most systematic team building process, have roped in Pandya with a long term plan in mind as there will be mega auction in 2025 and every franchise will try to build a new team with a young core.
However with India's ODI and Test captain Rohit Sharma still very much in the mix and perhaps franchise's biggest icon with five titles under his belt, it would be interesting what kind of decision the owners and top management with regards to leadership.
This must be mentioned that those in the know of things had an inkling that Pandya after two years at Titans wanted to move back to the franchise from where he had made a name and played seven seasons.
The lure of captaining IPL's most popular franchise with biggest fan base was also a reason apart from building his brand as a national skipper in one of the formats.
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IPL allows temporary replacements considering non-availability of a few foreign players
New Delhi, May 14 (PTI): The Indian Premier League on Wednesday allowed teams to make temporary replacements in their squad for the remainder of the tournament considering the non-availability of a few foreign players owing to the forced rescheduling of the event.
IPL had to be suspended last week due to the India-Pakistan military conflict but the announcement of the ceasefire paved the way for its resumption on May 17.
As per the original schedule, the IPL final was to be held on May 25 but now it will take place on June 3, making it trickier for the players who had to report for national duty.
While a few players are not returning due to personal reasons, the likes of Jamie Overton, representing CSK this season, will stay back in the UK for the white-ball series against the West Indies at home.
In an email to franchises which was accessed by PTI, IPL informed the teams of the temporary replacement player option.
"... in the current situation, where we had to temporarily suspend IPL 2025, resulting in its completion beyond the earlier set-out date of May 25, 2025, we have reassessed the Replacement Player provisions.
"Given the non-availability of certain foreign players due to national commitments or personal reasons or any injury or illness, Temporary Replacement Players will be allowed until the conclusion of this tournament.
"This decision is subject to the condition that the Temporary Replacement players taken from this point forward will not be eligible for retention in the following year," IPL said in its note.
As per the IPL Player Regulations 2025-27, players can be replaced if they are injured or ill, provided the injury or illness occurs during or before the 12th league match of the relevant team in that season.
"Temporary Replacement players will have to register for the IPL Player Auction 2026. The replacements which were approved or taken before the suspended period will be eligible for retention ahead of 2026 player auction," the note added.
The rescheduling is likely to impact the preparation of South Africa and Australia for the World Test Championship final beginning at Lord's on June 11.
