All the speculations, rumors, and reports became reality on Monday, November 27, as the Mumbai Indians (MI) officially confirmed the trade of Hardik Pandya for the upcoming IPL 2024.

This shocker came after the Gujarat Titans (GT) retained Hardik as their captain for the upcoming IPL 2024 on the retention day on Sunday, November 26. While the MI owners warmly welcomed Pandya back to his original franchise, the Gujarat Titans’ (GT) first reaction to the big news may surprise some.

GT revealed that it was Hardik's own wish to reunite with his former franchise MI, and they could not force him to stay with them, so the deal was finalized after the retention.

Read Also: IPL 2024: "It doesn't sit right"- Aakash Chopra on Hardik Pandya not being captain of MI

In a statement on Monday, Vikram Solanki, the Director of Cricket for the Gujarat Titans, revealed that it was entirely Hardik's decision to return to MI, and he extended his best wishes to their former captain for his journey ahead.

Vikram Solanki stated: “As the first captain of Gujarat Titans, Hardik Pandya has helped the franchise deliver two fantastic seasons that resulted in winning one TATA IPL championship and one appearance in the final.”

Solanki added, “He has now expressed a desire to return to his original team Mumbai Indians. We respect his decision and wish him all the very best in his future endeavours.”

Here is updated squad of Gujarat Titans:

Shubman Gill (Captain) David Miller, Matthew Wade, Wriddhiman Saha, Kane Williamson, Abhinav Manohar, B Sai Sudharsan, Darshan Nalkande, Vijay Shankar, Jayant Yadav, Rahul Tewatia, Mohammed Shami, Noor Ahmad, R Sai Kishore, Rashid Khan, Josh Little, Mohit Sharma.