Hardik Pandya’s future with the Mumbai Indians has been up for discussion since the franchise failed to make the playoffs of IPL 2026
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CSK’s latest video hinted at Hardik Pandya’s potential trade move from Mumbai Indians(Photo: Screengrab/IANS)
Five-time Indian Premier League champions Chennai Super Kings have dropped a major hint on the possible trade move for India all-rounder and current Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya who is expected to leave MI ahead of the start of IPL 2027Pandya has been under major scrutiny after the former champions finished at the bottom-half of the table last season.
Mumbai had a forgettable IPL 2026 season where they won just four times and lost a total of 10 matches to finish with only eight pointsIn 2025, MI made it to the playoffs by finishing fourth but lost to eventual runners-up Punjab Kings in Qualifier 2.
And on his debut season as captain, Hardik Pandya had suffered a 10th place finish after winning the same number of matches as the 2026 seasonThis raised plenty of question marks on Pandya’s potency as captain and whether he will be able to help the franchise achieve similar success as they did under Rohit Sharma’s leadership from 2013 to 2023In those 10 years, MI claimed five IPL titles in 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2020.
With Pandya’s future up for discussion, a number of franchises, including CSK, have thrown their hats to sign the high profile all-rounder on a trade dealThe Kolkata Knight Riders are also among the suitors, but as it appears, Chennai are the front runners to land the IPL 2022 winning captain.
CSK added fuel to the fire by uploading a video that hinted the arrival of Hardik Pandya on a trade deal despite both Chennai and Mumbai denying all possibilities.
In that video, CSK’s mascot Leo can be seen holding a placard and asking the franchise’s new head coach Zaheer Khan about the trade moveIt was a cryptic message and fans are linking the video to Pandya’s possible arrival. That was enough to get the fans speculating about the all-rounder’s arrival.
It also prompted a reaction from ex CSK off-spinner and former IPL winner Ravichandran Ashwin who seemed to be buzzing about the development“Onnnn?? Proper cooking”, wrote Ashwin.
It is still not clear whether the video was hinting about Hardik Pandya’s trade move materializing but for now these are all speculations and rumours.
CSK welcome new coaching staff
Meanwhile, CSK have announced their new coaching staff under the head leadership of newly appointed head coach Zaheer KhanFormer South Africa all-rounder Albie Morkel, ex India batter Sridharan Sriram and Surrey head coach Gareth Batty have been brought in as the assistant coaches while Mohit Sharma and James Foster will be the bowling and batting coaches.
Their first objective will be to fill the gaps some of the gaps in the squad in the upcoming mini-auction for IPL 2027, which is to take place on December 16 at Goa.
