Gujarat Titans (GT) head coach Ashish Nehra shared that Hardik Pandya expressed his desire to return to the Mumbai Indians (MI), seeing them trading the all-rounder. However, everyone was surprised when Hardik was traded in an all-cash deal to Mumbai Indians, his former franchise. Hardik began his IPL career with MI and represented the franchise from 2015 to 2021, helping them win four titles in that period as well.

Speaking to JioCinema after the 2024 IPL auction, Nehra said that replacing a player of Hardik’s calibre is nearly impossible but he wanted the Gujarat-born cricketer to be happy as well.

“Hardik Pandya has not gone back to a team that has caused a huge surprise,” Ashish Nehra said. “He played for that team for so many years, he showed his desire to go back there. Our management’s nature is such that, we think if a player wants to go there, right.”He should be happy and that’s why he has gone there again. Replacing someone like Hardik Pandya is difficult, but we tried our best.”

However, Hardik Pandya achieved a lot of success with the Gujarat Titans, leading the side to the title in their maiden IPL appearance in 2022 as well. They missed out on defending their title under him as they lost a last-ball thriller in the grand finale to the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) this year.

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“It will be difficult to make up for somebody like Hardik” – Ashish Nehra

Gujarat Titans bought some players to replace Hardik Pandya in the 2024 IPL auction. And, Ashish Nehra stated the difficulty in replacing someone like Hardik Pandya but also shared his delight at their buys in the 2024 IPL auction. They acquired the Afghanistan all-rounder Azmatullah Omarzai for only ₹50 Lakh and strengthened their middle-order batting with Shahrukh Khan for ₹7.40 crore as well.

“Having the size of 25 members is a luxury. We got a great all-rounder like Omarzai, we also got Shahrukh Khan. But it will be difficult to make up for somebody like Hardik who has that much talent and that much experience. It is what it is. With the resources we have, we will try and do our best,” Ashish Nehra said. “I don’t think you can find a replacement for somebody like Hardik Pandya that easily. Here you are talking about all-rounder, Shahrukh Khan is a pure batter. We wanted one more batter to back up. You have to remember that IPL has a squad of 25. You have the option to look for backups.”

The Gujarat Titans also strengthened their pace bowling unit by adding Umesh Yadav (₹5.80 crore), Kartik Tyagi (₹60 lakh), and Spencer Johnson (₹10 crore), among others as well.