Can Hardik Pandya still be traded to Mumbai Indians after being retained by Gujarat Titans? 

After few days of speculation, Gujarat Titans (GT) retained captained Hardik Pandya as the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise released their retention list ahead of the IPL 2024 auction. The development came as a huge surprise amid reported trade talks with his former IPL franchise Mumbai Indians (MI).

The 30-year-old, however, can still be traded to the Mumbai-based franchise since the trading window will remain open until December 12 but it can only be a player swap since MI have an INR 15.25 crore purse.

For the unversed, Pandya was bought by the Titans for INR 15 crore after being released by MI in 2022. The Baroda-born all-rounder led the new IPL side to their first trophy in their inaugural season in the T20 tournament. He also led the Ahmedabad-based franchise to the IPL 2023 final but lost to eventual champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK).

With the bat, Pandya batter amassed 487 and 346 in his last two IPL seasons, respectively. The medium pacer also picked up eight and three wickets, respectively. However, it was MI that groomed Pandya as an all-rounder.

At MI, the right-handed batter scored 1476 runs in 85 innings at a strike rate of 153.91. With the ball, he took 42 wickets.

Hardik Pandya was last seen in action in the 2023 World Cup. The all-rounder was ruled out of the marquee ICC tournament mid-way due to an ankle injury. He also missed out on the ongoing five-match T20I series against Australia. He is likely to make his comeback on India's tour of South Africa.

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Gujarat Titans’s retention list ft. Hardik Pandya

Gujarat Titans retained 18 players and released eight players ahead of the IPL 2024 auction. They now have INR 13.85 crore to fill their remaining six slots.

GT retained players list: Hardik Pandya (captain), David Miller, Shubman Gill, Matthew Wade, Wriddhiman Saha, Kane Williamson, Abhinav Manohar, Sai Sudharsan, Darshan Nalkande, Vijay Shankar, Jayant Yadav, Rahul Tewatia, Mohammed Shami, Noor Ahmed, Sai Kishore, Rashid Khan, Joshua Little, and Mohit Sharma.

GT released players list: Yash Dayal, KS Bharat, Shivam Mavi, Urvil Patel, Pradeep Sangwan, Odean Smith, Alzarri Joseph, and Dasun Shanaka.