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Newly appointed Mumbai Indians (MI) skipper Hardik Pandya has joined the franchise ahead of the 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL) season.
Hardik has been nursing an ankle injury he sustained during the Bangladesh clash of the 2023 ODI World Cup. He recently completed his recovery and returned to play a competitive match at the DY Patil T20 tournament.
Incidentally, Hardik Pandya returned to MI in an all-cash trade with the Gujarat Titans (GT) in the off-season.
The Mumbai Indians' official Instagram handle shared a video of Hardik sporting the team jersey and performing an auspicious pooja with head coach Mark Boucher.
Here is a video of the same:
Immediately after the trade, Hardik was made the MI captain, replacing Rohit Sharma, who led the side from 2013 to 2023.
Rohit captained the side to all five IPL titles from 2013 to 2020, four ( 2015, 2017, 2019, and 2020) of which Hardik was a part of. In his two seasons elsewhere, the talismanic all-rounder was the GT captain, leading the franchise to a title in their maiden season in 2022.
Hardik almost completed a double last year, leading the side to the summit clash, where they lost a last-ball thriller to the Chennai Super Kings (CSK). Despite his incredible success as the Titans' skipper, the move to replace Rohit at the helm for MI led to criticism from several fans and experts.
Mumbai Indians take on GT in a mouth-watering season opener for both teams
A mouth-watering battle will have MI take on GT in the season opener for both teams at Ahmedabad on March 24.
Apart from the return of Hardik Pandya to Gujarat and his first game as MI skipper, the clash is also the battle between the two teams that faced off in Qualifier 2 last season. A high-voltage encounter saw GT triumph by 62 runs on the back of a sensational 129 off 60 by Shubman Gill.
While Hardik's return has further strengthened MI, his loss, along with Mohammed Shami's likely absence from the 2024 IPL, severely hampers GT's chances. Following the MI clash, they will take on CSK in a repeat of last year's final on March 26.
Meanwhile, Mumbai Indians will play their second game against SunRisers Hyderabad on March 27.
The curtain raiser for the 2024 season will witness South Indian rivals CSK and RCB square off on March 22.
