India all-rounder Hardik Pandya has returned to the team’s dressing room for the first time since leaving Mumbai Indians many years ago ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) season starting on March 22 this year. Hardik, who was acquired from Gujarat Titans a few months ago, has been in the headlines as the franchise decided to appoint him as captain in place of talisman Rohit Sharma. When Hardik first stepped into the MI camp, before the start of the new season, he installed a temple in the dressing room and head coach Mark Boucher broke the coconut.
In a video posted by the official X (formerly Twitter) account of Mumbai Indians (MI), Pandya can be seen entering the MI dressing room and performing pooja with head coach Mark Boucher.
#a family #mumbaiindians @hardikpandya7 pic.twitter.com/XBs5eJFdfS
— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) March 11, 2024
Pandya returned to his previous team from Gujarat Titans (GT) in November last year as part of a deal between the two teams. The all-round star spent two important years at GT, leading the side’s campaign in the cash-rich league with aplomb. In GT’s inaugural season in 2022, Hardik gave them a fairytale start as the team lifted the coveted trophy.
In 31 games in GT, Pandya scored 833 runs at an average of 37.86 and a strike rate of over 133, including six half-centuries with a best score of 87*. He also took 11 wickets for the team with best figures of 3/17.
Pandya also played 92 games for MI between 2015 and 2021, scoring 1,476 runs at an average of 27.33 and a strike rate of over 153, including four half-centuries with a best score of 91. He also took 42 wickets for the team, including 3/20 as the top bowling figure. Pandya has won 5 IPL trophies, 4 of which are MI (2015, 2017, 2019, 2020) and GT (2022).
The 17th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) will kick off on March 22 with defending champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) taking on Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at their home stadium, Machidambaram Stadium South Indian Derby. .
Last year’s runners-up Gujarat Titans and five-time champions Mumbai Indians will engage in a mouth-watering showdown on March 24 in Ahmedabad. The match attracted a lot of attention as star all-rounder Pandya moved to his previous team MI after two outstanding seasons with GT. Shubman Gill takes over as GT captain.
Mumbai Indians (MI) IPL 2024 Lineup:Rohit Sharma, Dewald Brevis, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Tilak Verma, Tim David, Vishnu Vinod, Arjun Tendulkar, Shams Mulani, Nehal Wadhera
Jasprit Bumrah, Kumar Kartikeya, Piyush Chawla, Akash Madhwal, Jason Behrendorff, Hardik Pandya (traded from GT), Romario Shepherd (traded from LSG), Gerald Coetzee, Dilshan Madushanka, Shreyas Gopal, Nuwan Suchhara, Naman Dhir, Anshul Kamboj, Mohammad Nabi, Shivalik Sharma.
With ANI input
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