"Jadeja was banned for a year... but you've allowed this" - Joy Bhattacharjya says Hardik Pandya trade is a bad sign for IPL

Former Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) director and pundit Joy Bhattacharjya feels Hardik Pandya's all-cash trade to Mumbai Indians (MI) would set a bad precedent for IPL. He said the IPL has allowed Hardik to push the Gujarat Titans (GT) into leaving him, which he thinks might empower more stars to refuse to play for a team despite getting signed.

Bhattacharjya cited Ravindra Jadeja's ban in IPL 2010 as part of his argument. Jadeja, who represented Rajasthan Royals (RR) in 2008 and 2009, allegedly wanted a pay hike. When that was rejected, he reportedly negotiated with Mumbai Indians for a better deal despite being contracted with RR.

Jadeja also rejected the Royals' contract extension offer. The IPL considered that to be a breach of their player guidelines and banned him for the next season.

“He (Jadeja) had said that he doesn't want to play for Rajasthan Royals anymore and so was banned for a year because they said that you cannot break the system," Bhattacharjya said on Oaktree Sports' YouTube show. "If a player suddenly says take me from the auction but I do not want to play for you...and once you start encouraging this trend then it will not be a good idea to go down that road."

"That is why it was stopped in 2010. But in 2023, you have allowed this to happen with a big player. The truth of this is once you start allowing it, players will realise that if they can kick up enough of a fuss, the franchise will leave them...I don't think this is a good precedent for the league,” he added.

Although Hardik's deal was officially negotiated between the two franchises, some reports suggest he was in contact with Mumbai Indians before the talks began. IPL has allowed the deal to go forward for now.

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"Gujarat couldn't have made any other choices" - Bhattacharjya on Hardik Pandya deal

Bhattacharjya also claimed that Gujarat had no choice but to let Hardik leave. He said as there was just one year left on Hardik's contract, and his heart was set on Mumbai, Gujarat would have only gotten a season of "mediocre performance" from him had he stayed.

“Gujarat had two options. They could have allowed him to leave, make some money out of trade and get some money for the organisation which is enough to retain another big name player. The other option is with Hardik saying that he wants to leave, I would get one season of mediocre performance from him. Then he will leave and I will get nothing from it. Gujarat hence couldn't have made any other choices given the circumstances,” he explained.

Hardik's deal to Mumbai was felicitated by Cameron Green's move away to Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in another all-cash deal.