Aakash Chopra was not really impressed with Hardik Pandya’s decision to move back to the Mumbai Indians (MI), as the Gujarat Titans (GT) traded their captain to MI ahead of the IPL 2024.
Chopra said that Pandya had left the Mumbai Indians (MI) for captaincy, and he did a fantastic job as skipper for the Gujarat Titans (GT) in the past two seasons. He led GT to an IPL 2022 title triumph, and also to the final of the IPL 2023.
Well, ahead of the IPL 2024, Hardik has been traded to MI, and Chopra said that it won’t look good on his CV as he is unlikely to replace Rohit Sharma as Mumbai captain.
After his impressive captaincy in the IPL, the star all-rounder was given India’s captaincy in T20I cricket and has been leading the side for the past 12 months.
Chopra wondered how it looks when Hardik is not the captain of his franchise but wants to lead the country. The former cricketer said that Pandya leading India’s T20I team won't look right in any optics when he will not be captain in the IPL.
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Aakash Chopra said on his YouTube channel: “The one thing that won't look good on Hardik's CV is that he left Mumbai because he wanted to become a captain. You went to Gujarat and then became the Indian captain. You will no longer be a franchise captain now, but you still want to be India's captain - it doesn't sit right.”
He added, “It doesn't look right whether you look from optics or any other angle, that you are not your franchise's captain but are India's captain in the T20 World Cup. It doesn't sound right but so be it.”
Chopra said that GT might have gained financially by leaving out Pandya, and they can buy two players to fill his slot, but it was their eventual loss.
He signed off by saying, “Gujarat would have gained financially but the team didn't gain at all. A captain who won you the title in the first year and took you to the final in the second year is no longer a part of your squad. They might have thought something if they are doing that.”
(With India Today Inputs)
