"Rohit Sharma is going to let Hardik Pandya captain Mumbai Indians" - AB de Villiers

Former South African batter AB de Villiers believes that if the reported trade of Hardik Pandya from Gujarat Titans (GT) to Mumbai Indians (MI) takes place, the latter would captain the five-time IPL champions moving forward.

In the two seasons that Hardik led GT, he won them the title and then got them within touching distance of another one. De Villiers feels that with Rohit Sharma continuing to be India's captain, Hardik can lessen the burden by shouldering the responsibility of captaining MI.

Speaking in a video on his YouTube channel, here's what AB de Villiers had to say about Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya:

"I have a funny feeling Rohit is going to let him (Hardik) captain. Rohit carries a lot of pressure of captaining Team India. Maybe that is going to be the move."

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AB de Villiers' thoughts on Hardik Pandya returning to MI

AB de Villiers claimed that he didn't know the exact details of the all-cash trade happening between Mumbai and Gujarat involving Hardik Pandya. However, he feels it will be a massive coup for MI to have one of their former star players back.

De Villiers reckoned that having already won the IPL with the Titans, Hardik might have felt that it was time to move on to a different challenge. On this, he stated:

"It's a big news for Mumbai Indians. He (Hardik) was a big player for Mumbai for many years. He loved playing at the Wankhede Stadium. He won the trophy with GT and then also went to the final (next season). He probably feels his time there is done."

With each team getting an extra INR 5 crore in their kitty, it will be interesting to see how MI make room for at least 10 crore more to sort their finances for Hardik's potential arrival.