Hardik Pandya trade talks gather interest, but little headway for now

Hardik Pandya is back in the IPL trade rumour mill, with Kolkata Knight Riders and Chennai Super Kings believed to be among the franchises interested in acquiring the Mumbai Indians skipper. Lucknow Super Giants and Rajasthan Royals have also been linked with him, although those associations remain at the rumour stage. There has, however, been little headway in the trade talks.

Mumbai Indians have not committed either way on whether Pandya is available for a trade. MI sources, in fact, have indicated that the all-rounder may not be traded at all. That, however, may not necessarily be the complete picture. Cricbuzz understands that calls have been made to and received from franchises expressing interest in the all-rounder. The discussions, however, have remained largely at a preliminary stage.

Pandya continues to be highly valued in the IPL ecosystem, but when franchises assess his numbers in detail, they inevitably have to weigh up which version of the all-rounder they would be getting. Would it be the GT version, who led a new franchise to the IPL title in its first season and came within touching distance of another in its second, or the recent MI version, who has struggled for consistency and stability and managed to take the five-time champions to just one playoff appearance in three seasons.

Pandya's IPL numbers since 2024 do not necessarily stand out on the page: he has scored fewer than 225 runs at an average below 25 in each of those seasons. But those runs have come at a strike rate close to 150, while he has also chipped in with 29 wickets.

He, of course, offers more than numbers. The infectious energy on the field, experience and balance he brings to a side are difficult to match. He is also a top-quality seam-bowling all-rounder, a player type India have had little success in producing regularly. Besides, he represents a long-term investment for any franchise. As he told journalists during IPL 2026, he expects to be in the game for at least another nine or 10 years.

In an ideal scenario, MI would have liked to persist with Pandya, which they could still do. They might, however, be open to a trade with Delhi Capitals involving Axar Patel. It would strengthen their bowling and spin department, which has not been their strongest suit in recent years. Axar, who also brings leadership experience, would give them a middle or lower-middle-order batting option, allowing MI to leave out an overseas all-rounder such as Mitchell Santner or Will Jacks and accommodate an additional overseas pacer in the playing XI, or XII. But that still remains an unlikely scenario.

MI’s position has apparently been that they would want a top batter and bowler in exchange for their star all-rounder. Knight Riders are an interested party but are not prepared to part with any of their marquee players. KKR could consider offering Cameron Green, but the Australian’s availability for the IPL is uncertain, with the Ashes scheduled to follow the tournament next year and therefore may not be an attractive proposition for MI either.

CSK will take up the Pandya trade matter only after appointing a new coach. © AFP

Meanwhile, Chennai Super Kings continue to maintain that they have not applied their minds to Pandya, saying the matter will be left to their next coach, who CEO Kasi Viswanathan says is likely to be an overseas expert. “We have not started applying our minds on this. First, we will have a coach. We have got calls from many interested candidates. We will sit and finalise.”

Viswanathan and CSK’s whole-time director Rupa Gurunath will finalise the new coach after consulting MS Dhoni and Ruturaj Gaikwad. The Pandya issue, if he is still available for trade by then, will be taken up only after the appointment of the coach. At this stage, there appears to be little substance to reports of CSK offering a couple of players in exchange for Pandya, and the franchise is unlikely to have had any serious discussions over the all-rounder.

That said, any CSK interest in Pandya would carry a degree of irony. Only last year, they traded two top all-rounders, Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran, to acquire Sanju Samson, but in Pandya they stand to get a different profile: a world class Indian finisher as well as a seam bowler.

The larger question with CSK, beyond a potential Pandya trade, is about their new coach. With the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) apparently willing to release its coaches for IPL duties during the off-season, there was speculation that Brendon McCullum could join CSK. The speculation even suggested that McCullum had helped fellow New Zealander Stephen Fleming land the England Test job, and that Fleming was now helping McCullum secure the CSK role. But there is little to suggest there was any substance to those claims.

Meanwhile, Pandya, who has shifted to Bengaluru, has been a regular at the Centre of Excellence (CoE) and is understood to be close to full fitness. Having had some initial conversations with the MI management, he is now waiting to hear their decision on his future.

There is an unwritten principle among IPL franchises: never make another team stronger through a trade. Pandya presents a particularly difficult test of that principle. Even if his returns have fluctuated in recent seasons, there is enough in his game, and in what he offers as a leader and all-rounder, to suggest that the franchise acquiring him would be strengthening its side. For MI, then, the question is not simply whether they are willing to let Pandya go, but whether what they get in return can justify strengthening a rival in the process.

This is part of the Cricbuzz series - IPL Off-Season - where we will bring you stories from the T20 tournament all through the year. For more stories from the series, click here.

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