IPL 2024: Hardik Pandya retained by Gujarat Titans amidst reports of transfer to Mumbai Indians

Star India all-rounder Hardik Pandya has been retained by Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Gujarat Titans (GT) amid rumours of his transfer back to Mumbai Indians (MI) ahead of player retention deadline on Sunday, November 26. Notably, there were widespread reports which claimed Pandya’s return to his old franchise where he played for seven seasons from his debut in 2015 to 2021.

However, ahead of the mega auction in 2022, Pandya was released by MI and was bought by the newly formed franchise Gujarat Titans. The all-rounder got the opportunity to lead the side at GT and tasted success in his first attempt itself by leading them to a title win in their debut season. He further led them to another final in 2023 where they lost against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the summit clash.

Also Read: IPL 2024: Mumbai Indians Retained Players, Released Players and Purse Remaining ahead of Auction

Despite a successful run in two seasons, there were reports of Pandya’s trade to Mumbai Indians through an all-cash deal worth INR 15 crore along with an undisclosed transfer fee. The news spread like wildfire in the cricketing fraternity as Pandya faced backlash for betraying the franchise which showed trust in him for two years.

The reports, however, turned out to be fake as GT included Pandya’s name in team’s retentions ahead of the next season. Despite that, the transfer window is still open until a week before the auction scheduled to be held in Dubai on December 19. Hence, player swap trades can still be made between franchises in the next few weeks.

Gujarat Titans' retentions and released players ahead of IPL 2024

Also Read: IPL 2024: Chennai Super Kings Retained Players, Released Players and Purse Remaining ahead of Auction

Meanwhile, apart from him, GT has also retained David Miller, Shubman Gill, Matthew Wade, Wriddhiman Saha, Kane Williamson, Hardik Pandya, Abhinva Manohar, Sai Sudharsan, Darshan Nalkande, Vijay Shankar, Jayant Yadav, Rahul Tewatia, Mohammed Shami, Noor Ahmed, R Sai KIshore, Rashid Khan, Joshua Little and Mohit Sharma.

On the other hand, they’ve released, Yash Dayal, KS Bharat, Shivam Dubey, Urvil Patel, Preadeep Sangwan, Odean Smith, Alzarri Joseph, Dasun Shanaka.