Ahead of the IPL 2024 season, all eyes are on Hardik Pandya, who will be leading the Mumbai Indians (MI) team.
In December last year, MI appointed Hardik as their new captain. The all-rounder would be succeeding Rohit Sharma, who led the franchise to five IPL titles in his 10-year stint as skipper.
This move came after Hardik returned to MI, following a high-profile trade from Gujarat Titans (GT), whom he led in the past two seasons.
With less than a week remaining for the IPL 2024, GT head coach Ashish Nehra revealed that he never tried to convince Hardik Pandya against returning to Mumbai Indians.
However, Nehra acknowledged that his team would miss the all-rounder's experience in the upcoming IPL.
"In any sport, you have to move on. You cannot buy experience and to replace someone like Hardik Pandya or (an injured) Mohammad Shami isn't going to be easy. But that's a learning curve and that's how team moves forward," Nehra told reporters on Saturday (March 16).
Pandya-Nehra combination impressed one and all in the first two seasons. While their partnership guided GT to a title win in 2022, they finished as runners-up last year.
"I never tried to convince Pandya to stay back. As you play more, you gain experience. I could have stopped him had he gone to any other franchise. He (Pandya) played here for two years but he has gone to a team (MI), where he has played previously for 5-6 years," Nehra said.
Looking at Hardik Pandya's transfer, Nehra feels that the day isn't far away when IPL follows the path of European club football.
"The manner in which the sport (cricket) is moving, we will have trades and transfers like we see in international soccer. It's a new challenge for him and may be he will learn something new and we wish him the best."
After Pandya's transfer, the Titans named Shubman Gill as their new skipper and Nehra is looking forward to see how the youngster operates in the IPL 2024 season.
"As a new captain, I want to see how he (Gill) operates and not just me, the whole India would like to see because he is that kind of a player," the GT coach said.
"He is looking to play and do well in all three formats, so we as a franchise would like to help him grow more as a person than as a captain. If he grows as a person, he will grow more as a captain going forward and get better and better," he added.
"Before Hardik joined GT, he had no prior experience of captaining any side. There are 10 IPL teams and you will see more and more new captains. Shreyas Iyer and even Nitish Rana did captaincy for KKR. Let's see which guy capitalises moving ahead," he explained.
With senior pacer Mohammad Shami ruled out following a surgery on his achillies tendon and star spinner Rashid Khan still recuperating from a back surgery, Gujarat Titans are certainly not looking in the best of shape before the start of IPL 2024. However, Nehra is bullish about his team's possible replacements.
"IPL is now a 12-people game (Impact Player added) and to fill in Hardik and Shami's shoes, it is not going to be easy but we have enough people. We have Umesh Yadav, who have been playing the IPL for more than 12 years," Nehra said.
The coach also expects Tamil Nadu skipper R Sai Kishore, who got 55 wickets in Ranji Trophy, to deliver the goods.
"Sai Kishore didn't play (much) last year, but he has been doing so well. So every year you will be seeing new new guys, you have to believe in yourself and prepare for that," he said.
When asked if Rashid doesn't get fit in time, Nehra said: "About spinners, its not that we don't have experienced spinners. We have Jayant Yadav and Sai Kishore. I am a firm believer of playing to your strengths. In Chennai and Lucknow, there will be slow tracks and we need to be prepared."
(With PTI Inputs)
