Gujarat Titans head coach Ashish Nehra admitted that replacing Hardik Pandya is difficult but they tried their best in the Indian Premier League 2024 auction. Pandya made a move to his former team Mumbai Indians in an all-cash trade deal and Nehra revealed that they released him because the all-rounder wanted to go there.
Pandya led Gujarat Titans to glory in IPL 2022 and then took the franchise to the final of the tournament in IPL 2023. The right-hander delivered with both bat and ball and led from the front in the two seasons.
Shubman Gill has been appointed as the new skipper of the franchise for IPL 2024. Meanwhile, GT was able to add players like Shahrukh Khan (INR 7.40 crores) Umesh Yadav (Rs 5.8 crore), Sushant Mishra (Rs 2.2 crore), Kartik Tyagi (Rs 60 lakh), Azmatullah Omarzai (Rs 50 lakh), Manav Suthar (Rs 20 lakh), Spencer Johnson (Rs 10 crore) and Robin Minz (Rs 3.6 crore) to their squad.
“Hardik Pandya has not gone back to a team that has caused a huge surprise. He played for that team for so many years, he showed his desire to go back there. Our management’s nature is such that, we think if a player wants to go there, right. He should be happy and that’s why he has gone there again. Replacing someone like Hardik Pandya is difficult, but we tried our best,” Ashish Nehra told JIoCinema.
GT were able to add players like Shahrukh Khan and Azmatullah Omarzai, who impressed in the World Cup while playing for Afghanistan. But Nehra feels it is not easy to replace Hardik Pandya as he has got all the experience under his belt.
“Having the size of 25 members is a luxury. We got a great all-rounder like Omarzai, we also got Shahrukh Khan. But it will be difficult to make up for somebody like Hardik who has that much talent and that much experience. It is what it is. With the resources we have, we will try and do our best,” Nehra said.
“I don’t think you can find a replacement for somebody like Hardik Pandya that easily. Here you are talking about all-rounder, Shahrukh Khan is a pure batter. We wanted one more batter to back up. You have to remember that IPL has a squad of 25. You have the option to look for backups,” he added.
GT SQUAD FOR IPL 2024
David Miller, Shubman Gill (c), Matthew Wade, Wriddhiman Saha, Kane Williamson, Abhinav Manohar, B. Sai Sudharsan, Darshan Nalkande, Vijay Shankar, Jayant Yadav, Rahul Tewatia, Mohammed Shami, Noor Ahmad, Sai Kishore, Rashid Khan, Joshua Little, Mohit Sharma, Azmatullah Omarzai, Umesh Yadav, Shahrukh Khan, Sushant Mishra, Kartik Tyagi, Manav Suthar, Spencer Johnson, Robin Minz.
