Former Indian batter Subramaniam Badrinath believes Chennai Super Kings will be harsh on Ruturaj Gaikwad if Hardik Pandya is given the leadership for IPL 2027. It has been reported that Pandya could move to the five-time champions from Mumbai Indians.

It is understood that Pandya wants leadership duties and if he moves to CSK, the management will need to think about changing the captaincy.

Meanwhile, Mumbai Indians under Hardik Pandya have qualified for the playoffs on a solitary occasion in the last three seasons.

Badrinath said Ruturaj Gaikwad should be given one more year as a leader at CSK.

“If Hardik comes, you will take the captaincy from Gaikwad and give it to Hardik? I will not agree with this. It will be very harsh on [Ruturaj] Gaikwad. They gave him captaincy in 2025, but he got injured and did not play the majority of the season, and MS Dhoni led in that season. 2026 was the season where he fully led as captain. Yes, he did not do as great, I agree. He did lead in 2024 too, but I feel he should get one more season as captain. I think CSK will also do that,” Badrinath said in a video on his YouTube channel.

“There is one more year in this cycle before the mega auction so probably CSK will give him one more year. Gaikwad the batter is someone I really like and I have said it before too. We don’t know who the new coach also will be. So we have to wait and see.”

Meanwhile, as per reports, Pandya could move to either KKR or CSK. However, the former CSK batter reckons the all-rounder can also move to Rajasthan Royals.

“Rajasthan could also be an option, as Riyan Parag did not have much impact as captain. Tell me what he did as captain? Is he MS Dhoni or Rohit Sharma? Is his captaincy of that level? Records are in front of you. I have nothing against any player personally,” Badrinath said.

RR was able to qualify for IPL 2026 playoffs under Parag’s captaincy.