Former Indian opener Kris Srikkanth believes Chennai Super Kings will be an ideal team for Hardik Pandya. Srikkanth reckons CSK and MI should trade Ruturaj Gaikwad and Hardik Pandya between themselves ahead of IPL 2027.

Gaikwad and Pandya both had underwhelming seasons for their respective teams and could not lead from the front. Pandya scored 206 runs in 10 matches at an average of 22.89 and a strike rate of 138.25. Furthermore, he could only pick four wickets in 10 games at a high economy rate of 11.42. Thus, he could not deliver consistently for the franchise.

On the other hand, Gaikwad wasn’t in the best of forms in IPL 2026, scoring 337 runs in 14 matches at an average of 28.08 and a strike rate of 123.44.

Srikkanth urged CSK not to let go of their young batter Ayush Mhatre ahead of IPL 2026.

Kris Srikkanth said on his YouTube Channel, “Hardik Pandya will be an ideal fit in CSK. He’ll be terrific for CSK. Ruturaj Gaikwad should be traded to MI for CSK to land Hardik Pandya. But CSK shouldn’t let go of Ayush Mhatre at any cost as he’s a fantastic cricketer. Maybe CSK can give up Gaikwad and Dube for Hardik and someone else in return.”

Meanwhile, the 1983 World Cup-winning player also shed light on trade reports of LSG’s Rishabh Pant to the Delhi Capitals in exchange for Kuldeep Yadav. Srikkanth said this trade will be helpful for Kuldeep Yadav, as Lucknow is a big ground.

“The moral of this is a wicketkeeper batter shouldn’t captain LSG. First, it was KL Rahul, who ran away from LSG, and now it’s Rishabh Pant. This trade will help Kuldeep as Lucknow is a huge ground. Pant will also love to return to Delhi. So it’s a win-win for both franchises. Kuldeep Yadav’s leaving is good for DC as they couldn’t play him in a small ground in Delhi,” said Srikkanth (via the aforementioned source).

Pant scored 312 runs in 14 matches of IPL 2026 at an average of 28.36 and a strike rate of 138.05, whereas Kuldeep bagged 10 wickets in 12 matches.