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'To Replace Pandya Difficult But ...'- GT Head Coach Ashish Nehra On Former Captain's Mumbai Indians Move 

image-lqeoo4poAshish Nehra played a crucial role in Hardik Pandya's success as a skipper [X.com]

Ahead of the IPL 2024 Auctions, Mumbai Indians pulled off a massive coup, acquiring the services of former player Hardik Pandya in a trade-off from Gujarat Titans.

Pandya, who moved to Titans in 2022, ended up winning his maiden IPL trophy as captain and then helped the franchise finish runners-up in the 2023 edition as well, showcasing his growth as a leader, which prompted MI to take back their most cherished all-rounder, and even named the former as skipper for the upcoming season. 

Titans, head coach Ashish Nehra, who played a significant role in Pandya's growth as a leader at Gujarat, on the sidelines of IPL 2024 mini-auctions opened up on the former captain's MI move.

As quoted by NDTVsports, Nehra admitted that replacing Pandya would be tough but backed new skipper Shubman Gill to come good. 

Here's what Nehra said

"To replace a player like Hardik Pandya is difficult considering his talent and experience. We have seen how he (Gill) has shaped up in the past three-four years. He is 24-25 years of age but he has a good head on his shoulders. We believe in him. That is why we made him captain. I am not someone who will always go by results. Yes, results are important but when you come to captaincy you have to look at other things also. We are confident that Gill is the right person (for captaincy),"

Meanwhile, Titans in the auction purchased as many as eight players — Azmatullah Omarzai, Robin Minz, Spencer Johnson, Shahrukh Khan, Kartik Tyagi, Manav Suthar, Sushant Mishra, and Umesh Yadav — and still had INR 7.85 crore in their purse remaining.