(Image source: X.com)
[Saba Sports News] Gujarat Titans (GT) pacer Mohammad Shami voiced his opinion on the biggest trade deal in the Indian Premier League (IPL) history involving Hardik Pandya.
Pandya after taking Gujarat Titans to a trophy and a final in two consecutive IPL seasons in 2022 and 2023 respectively got transferred to Mumbai Indians (MI) on his own request.
Notably, Pandya had started his IPL career with Mumbai Indians only and remained till the franchise till 2021.
The trade stirred a storm in the cricket fraternity, becoming one of the most talked about topics.
This led to questions being raised on Pandya’s loyalty as a few players also took shots at the latter implicitly.
However, Shami has come in support of his former captain, asserting that Pandya was not obliged to remain with the Titans for forever.
Shami believes that this is a part and parcel of a player’s life, citing that Shubman Gill, who is named the new captain of GT, might also leave the franchise later in his career to explore better opportunities.
“See, it doesn’t matter who is leaving. You have to see the team’s balance. Hardik was there, he captained us well. He took us to the final in both editions and won us the title in 2022. But Gujarat hadn’t signed Hardik for a lifetime. It’s his decision. Shubman is made captain now, he will also gain experience. Some day, he might also leave. And it’s a part of the game. Players come and players go,” Shami said as quoted to News24.
“When you are captain, it’s important to handle the responsibility while taking care of your performances. And that responsibility has been assigned to Shubman this time. He might have some load in his mind, but the players are more or less the same. So he doesn’t need to worry. You need to manage players well and extract the best out of your players,” he added.
Pandya is currently recovering from an ankle injury and will make his comeback in the upcoming IPL season, replacing Rohit Sharma as the MI skipper.