In the year 2014, Hardik Pandya went unsold during the IPL auction. The very next year, very few showed any inclination to hire the Baroda all-rounder’s services, and it was Mumbai Indians who added the player in its camp; purchasing him for an amount of Rs 10 Lakhs.
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Pandya did not get a game straight away and was benched for a while. But when he got a chance, the all-rounder made most of it and from that handful of games in IPL, he made it to the Indian team for the T20I series against Australia 2016.
The call-up to the national team was such a confidence booster for him that he went on to hit 34 runs in an over Syed Mushtaq Ali game against Delhi and from then, has found a permanent place for himself in the Indian team.
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His success in limited overs cricket saw him being called to Test side as well and within nine months of the first Test call-up, Pandya went on to make his debut in the longest format of the game.
Pandya is a hot property at present and is also one of the players which every team would like to have. The all-rounder is efficient with both bat and ball and his this ability is all set to make sounds in IPL auction as well if BCCI does not allow a franchise to retain players.
As per a report in TOI, Pandya has asked BCCI to keep him on the auction list,
“Hardik wants to be at the auction and the rule says that if he isn’t ready to play for Mumbai Indians, he can certainly be at the auction. Pandya could be the next big thing in the IPL if he is at the auction. After all, the teams will retain big India players like Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma,” a source told TOI.
There can be a case when Pandya might emerge out as the costliest player as well, just like we saw in the case of Ben Stokes who was paid an amount of 14.5 Crore by Rising Pune Supergiant, even when there were doubts whether he would play the full tournament.
If Pandya is up for auction, then he could earn much more than what Stokes earned in 2017 auction.
As of now, there are reports that franchise could retain three players and in all surety, Pandya will be the one to be retained by Mumbai Indians. Still, other franchises are trying not to let this happen so as they can also garner the services of someone like Virat Kohli, who has been part of Royal Challengers Bangalore right from the start of IPL.
A final decision on the retention of the players will be out in days to come.
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