Ashish Nehra, head coach of the Gujarat Titans, shed light on the departure of their former captain, Hardik Pandya, as the all-rounder made a move to join the Mumbai Indians ahead of the upcoming IPL 2024 season. Nehra revealed that he did not attempt to convince Pandya to stay with the Gujarat Titans, acknowledging that Pandya's experience would be sorely missed in the upcoming tournament.
"In any sport, you have to move on. You cannot buy experience and to replace someone like Hardik Pandya or (an injured) Mohammed Shami isn't going to be easy. But that's a learning curve and that's how the team moves forward," Nehra said of the massive IPL transfer. Titans made their IPL debut in the 2022 season alongside Lucknow Super Giants, and the combination of Nehra and Pandya worked for them as they ended up lifting the IPL title followed by a place in the final last year.
Nehra, when asked about whether he attempted to stop Pandya from joining MI, Nehra said: "I never tried to convince Pandya to stay back. As you play more, you gain experience. I could have stopped him had he gone to any other franchise. He (Pandya) played here for two years but he has gone to a team (MI), where he has played previously for 5-6 years," Nehra was frank in his admission.
While the transfer move of Pandya took place as a trade between the two sides and Nehra feels that the day isn't far away when IPL goes the European club football way. "The manner in which the sport (cricket) is moving, we will have trades and transfers like we see in international soccer. It's a new challenge for him and maybe he will learn something new, and we wish him the best."
After Pandya's departure, Titans appointed Shubman Gill as their new skipper and will begin his maiden stint as captain of an IPL side in the upcoming season. Gill, who ended up winning the Orange Cap last season for his being the top-run getter with 890 runs to his name, will be facing a challenge to manage a side full of senior players.
"As a new captain, I want to see how he (Gill) operates and not just me, the whole India would like to see because he is that kind of a player," the former Indian pacer said. "He is looking to play and do well in all three formats, so we as a franchise would like to help him grow more as a person than as a captain. If he grows as a person, he will grow more as a captain going forward and get better and better," the coach said. He cited Pandya's example when he was roped in 2022 as the team's skipper. "Before Hardik joined GT, he had no prior experience of captaining any side. There are 10 IPL teams and you will see more and more new captains. Shreyas Iyer and even Nitish Rana did captaincy for KKR. Let's see which guy capitalizes moving ahead."
While the defending champions Chennai Super Kings will face Royal Challengers Bangalore in the tournament opener, GT will begin their campaign against Mumbai Indians at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday, March 24.
