‘Kisiko farak nahi padta’: Mohammed Shami’s blunt take on Hardik Pandya leaving GT for MI

Mumbai Indians created ripples in Indian cricket by managing to poach Gujarat Titans’ captain Hardik Pandya back to the franchise where he made a name for himself a few months back.

The move has the potential to change the dynamics of the Indian Premier League (IPL) itself, not to mention the fortunes of both the teams in question. The Titans chose to appoint Shubman Gill as the captain with Pandya leaving. Meanwhile, Mumbai had to make the tough call to hand over the reins of the team to Pandya. It is a move that could likely leave players like longtime captain Rohit Sharma and team veterans Jasprit Bumrah and Suryakumar Yadav unhappy since they have all displayed that they have captaincy potential.

But for Indian fast bowler Mohammed Shami, who plies his trade for the Titans, Pandya’s move was just one of those things that happens in sport.

“Kisike jane se kisiko farak nahi padta (It doesn’t matter to anyone if anyone else is leaving the team). You have to look at the team’s balance. When Hardik was there, he captained us well. He took us to the final in both editions and we won once. But Gujarat hadn’t signed Hardik for a lifetime. It’s his decision to stay or leave. Shubman has been made captain now, he will also gain experience. Some day, he might also leave. And it’s a part of the game. Players come and go,” Shami told News24 recently in an interview.

In the two seasons of their existence in the IPL, both played under Pandya’s captaincy, the Gujarat franchise made it to the final of the IPL both years. The won the title in their inaugural season, but lost in the final last time around.

“When you become captain, it’s important to handle the responsibility while taking care of your performances. And that responsibility has been assigned to Shubman this time. He might have some load in his mind, but the players are more or less the same. So he doesn’t need to worry. You need to manage players well and extract the best out of your players,” he added.

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