The Mumbai Indians (MI) shared an emotional post bidding farewell to their captain, Hardik Pandya, after he was traded to the Punjab Kings (PBKS) in a blockbuster swap. In return, PBKS have got pacer Arshdeep Singh in return to bolster their pace bowling unit.

Notably, Hardik Pandya joined MI in IPL 2024 with much fanfare and replaced Rohit Sharma as captain in a controversial decision.

Hardik's three-year second stint with MI was disappointing because the team missed out on the playoffs in two of those seasons. Hardik also had poor batting results at that time, scoring just 647 runs while taking 35 wickets.

MI wished Hardik success in all of his future undertakings. The franchise thanked him for being a part of its journey through the highs and lows in an emotional farewell video that was posted separately.

"Thank you, Hardik, for representing the Blue and Gold with passion and pride. We wish you the best for the journey ahead," MI wrote in a post on X.  

“Through the highs, the lows, and everything in between, thank you for being a part of the Mumbai Indians story, Hardik," they wrote in another post.  

Having first joined MI in 2015, he had starring roles with both bat and ball during the team's title-winning campaigns in 2015, 2017, 2019, and 2020. Across 162 IPL matches, he has scored 2,955 runs at a strike rate of 146.28 and claimed 82 wickets.

Hardik joins PBKS for INR 18 crore, up from his salary of INR 16.35 crore last season.