WATCH: Hardik Pandya flaunts special ‘World Champion’ ring, video goes viral

Star India all-rounder Hardik Pandya shared an image of him wearing a ‘World Champion’ ring in his left hand. The 31-year-old played a key role, including defending 16 runs in the final over in India’s T20 World Cup win over South Africa earlier in the year. Leading to the tournament, the Gujarat-born cricketer was heavily criticised, especially during IPL 2024, after he took over Mumbai Indians’ captaincy from Rohit Sharma but he proved his value in the marquee tournament, helping India win the T20 title after 17 years.

In the ring that Pandya made, the T20 World Cup trophy is designed at the middle of it, while the word ‘World’ is at the top of it and ‘Champion’ is inscribed at the bottom. In the tournament, he made 144 runs in eight matches at a strike rate of 151.57 and also picked up 11 wickets at an economy of 7.64. Upon arriving in India, captain Rohit handed him the trophy as his image of coming out of the trophy went viral on social media.

Check out the viral Hardik Pandya ring here:

Pandya to lead Mumbai in IPL 2025

Leading to the IPL retention deadline, there were a lot of talks happening regarding MI’s captaincy. Under Pandya, the franchise finished at the bottom of the table last year and since then, his MI teammate Suryakumar Yadav has been appointed as the new T20I captain of India. There were talks of Rohit returning as captain as well but the franchise showed faith in him another season and announced him as captain.

Also Read - IPL 2025: How MI retained their core group for INR 75 crore

He was retained for INR 16.35 crore ahead of IPL 2025. Jasprit Bumrah was the first retained player for MI, as he will be earning INR 18 crore. Meanwhile, Suryakumar will be earning INR 16.35 as well, while Rohit has signed the contract for INR 16.30 crore. Tilak Verma was their fifth and final retention, as he was retained for INR 8 crore. With that, Mumbai managed to retain its core and have INR 45 crore to spend in the auction.