Ashwin predicts MI's XI amid reports of Hardik Pandya's trade, calls it 'mighty threatening'

The reports of Hardik Pandya’s return to his old franchise Mumbai Indians ahead of the IPL mini auction have spread like wildfire in the cricketing fraternity. Notably, the all-rounder made a shift to the newly formed side Gujarat Titans in 2022 after he was not retained by MI and led them to triumph in their debut season. However, the 30-year-old has made a decision to return to the team which introduced him to the cricketing world.

Amid the speculations, India and Rajasthan Royals off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin feels that Mumbai Indians’ have struck gold after Hardik’s return and called their lineup extremely threatening. Ashwin even imagined a Playing XI for the five-time champions with Pandya on their side.

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The veteran off-spinner included Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan as openers, followed by Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Nehal Wadhera, Tim David, Hardik, Jasprit Bumrah, Piyush Chawla and Akash Madhwal. Ashwin named a few overseas pacers as contenders for the 11th spot. He called the XI ‘mighty threatening’.

According to several reports, Pandya has been traded in an all-cash deal where Mumbai will pay INR 15 crore as the player's salary and an undisclosed transfer fee to Gujarat. If the deal turns out to be true, Pandya will become the third captain to be traded in the history of the IPL. Earlier, Ashwin was traded from Punjab Kings to Delhi Capitals in 2019 while Ajinkya Rahane was the second, who was traded from Rajasthan Royals to Delhi Capitals in the same year.