IPL 2022 | Hardik Pandya owes so much to Mumbai Indians, says Sunil Gavaskar

Gujarat Titans will take on Mumbai Indians in their upcoming game of IPL 2022. The Hardik Pandya-led Gujarat team will be hoping to win the game against Mumbai and seal their spot in the playoffs. Hardik in his debut season as a captain has been terrific and has looked very calm and comfortable in the way he has gone about the decision-making on the field. The Gujarat Titans are on top of the points table which shows the kind of cricket that they have played this season.

However, Hardik Pandya playing against Mumbai Indians will be a first as he started his IPL career with them. He gave some brilliant performances for the franchise while his time with them which also helped him go on to play for the country. Former Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar is of the opinion that Hardik playing against Mumbai Indians won't be like David Warner against SRH. 

“To win will mean they (GT) qualify. So that becomes important. Obviously, he would want to do his best against the team. But he also owes so much to the Mumbai Indians. MI were the first to give him the break when he really wasn't known outside Baroda. He and Krunal. And from there both of them have come out so well.

"They are brilliant and top-class cricketers. He would want to do well because he wasn't retained, but each team could only retain 3 or 4 players. And MI took the right decision by retaining the players they did. And they were also probably hoping they would buy him back, but that didn't work out. But it surely won't be like what we saw today with Warner against SRH. What happened last year (with Warner) wasn't a pleasant one which we all saw. So, it will not be the same for Hardik vs Mumbai Indians,” Sunil Gavaskar said in the post-match show of the DC vs SRH match on Star Sports.