Hardik Pandya speaks his heart before the match against Mumbai; says he'll be Blue-and-Gold for life

Gujarat Titans captain Hardik Pandya is facing his former franchise Mumbai Indians, in an ongoing emotional match at Brabourne Stadium. Pandya has played seven seasons for the Mumbai Indians before departing from the five-time champions ahead of the Indian Premier League 2022’s auctions.

Nevertheless, Gujarat are one win away from potentially confirming their berth in the IPL 2022 playoffs. MI, on the other hand, is all but out of playoff contention after only one win in nine games. Thus, it will be a battle of teams at opposite ends of the points table. 

Speaking ahead of the big match, the GT skipper recalled some of his fond memories with Mumbai Indians, claiming that the knock against Chennai Super Kings at Chepauk in 2015 gave him a taste of fame and popularity.

“I have always seen myself in blue and gold, but I am also in blue and gold with my home state, which is something even more special. I kind of got my first glimpse of success in the game (against CSK), where I scored 3 sixes when we needed 32 or something off 2 overs. A lot of memories are there; all my memories have been made with that team,” Hardik said in a video by his current IPL team.

In addition, the ace all-rounder revealed that he spoke with Kieron Pollard a few days ago and gave good wishes.

“I wish Polly (Pollard) has the best day for him, but I hope we win. I messaged Polly a few days ago and said, ‘hope you are okay, hope you are enjoying it’. I said we kind of missed him here. In a joking way, I said, ‘you never know. You might come to us next year’. It’s my wish, but I know it’s never going to happen," the maestro concluded.