Hardik Pandya for PBKS - (Source: Hardik Pandya Insta)
After days of speculation, the IPL on Wednesday confirmed Hardik Pandya’s trade to Punjab Kings in exchange for Arshdeep Singh, who moves to Mumbai Indians for IPL 2027. Despite the noise, the players were silent all along, but they too have now broken their silence.
Firstly, Arshdeep Singh posted a video message from MI’s Twitter Handle. Now, in the latest developments, Hardik Pandya has also dropped his 1s reaction after joining Punjab Kings for IPL 2027.
Hardik Pandya Confirms Shreyas Iyer To Lead Punjab Kings
Hardik Pandya took to Twitter, where he posted a special message for Punjab fans. Notably, in his message, Hardik also confirmed that Shreyas Iyer will continue to lead the franchise.
“My captain. Shreyas. My coach. Ricky Ponting. My team. All of Punjab”. I am standing behind you,” Hardik wrote on his Instagram post.
For the unversed, when there were speculations that Hardik is unhappy at MI and wants to move to a new team, reports suggested that the star all-rounder is looking for captaincy. So when his name was linked with Punjab Kings, a debate erupted over whether PBKS will hand over the leadership to Hardik or the 33-year-old will play under Shreyas Iyer.
Now, with the latest post, Pandya has cleared the air, and Shreyas will lead the side. Notably, Iyer took Punjab Kings to the final in IPL 2025 when the team lost against RCB.
Hardik Pandya Set To Return To Action Directly For IPL 2027
The Hardik Pandya trade is complete but there is a risk involved with it. For the unversed, Pandya has not played any cricket since IPL 2026 and reports suggest that he will directly return to action for IPL 2027.
A report from Dainik Jagran journalist Abhishek Tripathi said Hardik Pandya won’t be fit in time for Sri Lanka T20Is in December, followed by a Zimbabwe series at home in January. The right-arm seamer will most likely get the green light from the doctors ahead of IPL 2027, which will mark exactly a year since his last professional appearance.
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