IPL: Mumbai, Chennai seldom trade players, says Ashwin

Sports: As Indian Premier League auction for 2024 is going to be held next month, and franchisees are trading players, what picked the spotlight is Hardik Pandya being released by Gujarat Titans (GT) so he could join his debuting team, Mumbai Indians (MI). It was just two hours after GT released its player retention list, which included his name, the team announced that it was releasing Pandya.

Later, official confirmation from the IPL stated that Pandya was hired by MI, which is dubbed as his homecoming.

Now, Indian cricket team star spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has reacted to the dramatic development that for Pandya, it is like leaving his home (MI) for some MBA degree when he joined GT. As he won a title for the team as captain, he is returning to MI with a gold medal.

"After Hardik, they have landed gold. They have an Indian T20 Team captain who has won an IPL and became runner-up in the last two years in which he was away. It's like calling up your son and telling him, 'Hey son, here's some money go live the world, man. Go and get an MBA degree," Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.

"So he basically went to GT, became a leader, got an MBA degree and came back home. It's crazy, man. He has won a title and become a runner-up, and he became a title by the margin of one ball, here and there."

He further commented that the most successful teams, like MI and Chennai Super Kings, never left players but bought them.

"They have never given players, they have only taken players. And they have five titles each," he said.