Hardik Pandya IPL Trade: Another successful franchise in talks with MI for deal ahead of IPL 2027 - Reports
(Courtesy : BCCI/IPL)
Hardik Pandya captained the Mumbai Indians in IPL 2026.
The Indian Premier League 2026 was poor for all-rounder Hardik Pandya, both as a leader and as a player. Unlike the 2025 edition, he could not take the Mumbai Indians (MI) to the playoffs. With only four wins in 14 matches, the five-time champions performed very poorly and finished ninth in the points table with eight points.
Pandya also failed to make a mark with his bowling and batting. He scored 206 runs in 10 games at an average of 22.89 and a strike rate of 138.25. With the ball, he clinched only 4 wickets in 10 games at an economy of 11.43 and an average of 64.75.
MI started the tournament with a win but subsequently lost a few consecutive matches. Their main bowlers failed to take wickets, while key batsmen consistently failed to post big scores or successfully chase down targets.
Moreover, Mumbai were eliminated from the tournament even before playing their last game in the league stage. Pandya also suffered an injury and missed a few games. During the tournament, discussions about Pandya’s ouster from MI began to circulate on social media.
Reports suggest that even Hardik is not interested in leading MI after yet another poor season with the franchise. Now, some franchises are interested in adding Pandya to their teams, and one of them has also approached MI.
Kolkata Knight Riders approach MI to trade Hardik Pandya
According to a PTI report, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have approached MI to trade Hardik ahead of IPL 2027. KKR are interested in acquiring Pandya through an all-cash deal or a player transfer.
A source told PTI that KKR are considering parting ways with Ajinkya Rahane and appointing a new captain before IPL 2027. The report also added that KKR approached MI to grab Pandya ahead of the last season.
If this deal goes through, Hardik will get the captaincy, as KKR’s senior player Rinku Singh does not currently seem like the right choice for the role.
“Ajinkya Rahane was always a stop-gap arrangement for KKR and he was always going to be released after this season. The KKR top brass had approached MI owners towards the end of last season but since Reliance’s Annual AGM was round the corner, at that time, IPL trade wasn’t the biggest priority,” the source was quoted as saying by PTI.
“However, it has been learned that KKR has again approached MI top leadership and there have been a few rounds of discussion,” the source further added.
Meanwhile, trade deals between IPL teams for the next season have begun. On Tuesday, June 23, Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) traded Rishabh Pant to Delhi Capitals (DC).
In exchange, they brought Kuldeep Yadav into their squad. Pant captained LSG in the 2026 season but stepped down from his post after the team’s poor show.
Which franchise has approached MI to trade Hardik Pandya?
KKR have approached Mumbai Indians to trade Hardik Pandya.
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Vikas Singh Derek is a core cricket-lover since childhood and has always followed the sport both in his personal and professional life. He started his school life by watching cricket at home with family. Later, he played cricket on the field at local clubs during college. After his Master's in Journalism from Mumbai, he followed his passion by covering cricket news across various digital media. Since 2015, he has been an aspiring sports journalist and cricket content writer with over 50K+ articles.