India and Rajasthan Royals off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has opened up on the controversy surrounding Mumbai Indians resolution to exchange Rohit Sharma as captain. MI traded Hardik Pandya from Gujarat Titans as a part of an all-cash deal earlier than naming him because the skipper of the franchise forward of IPL 2024 gamers public sale. Rohit is probably the most profitable captain within the historical past of IPL, alongside MS Dhoni, having led MI to 5 titles. MI’s resolution to axe Rohit and take Hardik on board, nonetheless, confronted extreme backlash from the followers.
Ashwin whereas refraining himself from entering into the “right or wrong” debate, mentioned that MI’s transfer reveals how determined they’re to regain the IPL crown.
“The Hardik Pandya buy shows how hungry they are for number 6. Many people might have opinions about why it is right or wrong, or they might have taken it too easy. I am not going into that. This is a pride project. They play to win. And they’ve gone to that extent to buy a player. And you can say so many things, but when a team pulls off such a buy, you tend to think more,” Ashwin mentioned on his YouTube channel.
“Think about it, if MI got Rashid Khan from GT instead of Pandya, It is unthinkable, right? In the EPL or the rest of European football, it happens like this. If this also goes like that, some teams will have the financial strain to match up to those teams, and equality is a question mark. But nevertheless, as MI has done this, it looks pretty clear that they are going for number 6,” he added.
Ashwin, nonetheless, went on to reward Hardik, who led GT to the title of their first season within the IPL in 2022. He mentioned that the star all-rounder performed with plenty of intent within the center overs
“He (Hardik) has always been a combination player, giving a few overs and scoring runs when required. In GT, a lot of the team’s success came from his transition as a player who plays the middle overs with intent and leaves the finishing to (Rahul) Tewatia and Rashid Khan,” Ashwin added.
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