Hardik Pandya was shocked when Mumbai Indians decided not to retain him, reveals Ravi Shastri

Hardik Pandya enjoyed a dream run with his new team Gujarat Titans (GT) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 as he led the franchise to their maiden title in their debut season. Hardik was appointed as the captain of the Titans ahead of the new season after being roped in by GT in the players' draft. The star Indian all-rounder was released by his former side Mumbai Indians (MI) ahead of the mega auction.

Mumbai Indians' decision to let go of Pandya had left many in shock as he is the best all-rounder India have in white-ball cricket at present. Hardik had made his IPL debut for Mumbai Indians back in 2015 and played an instrumental role in their success with both the bat and the ball. He had not played for any other IPL team in his career before being released by MI.

However, MI's decision to release him proved to be a blessing in disguise for Pandya, who went on to inspire Gujarat Titans to a memorable IPL triumph in their maiden season. However, the all-rounder was not happy with MI's decision to release him and was left shocked when the franchise didn't retain him.

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Former India head coach Ravi Shastri recently revealed Pandya was left shocked when he was released by the five-time champions. However, the extra responsibility of leading the team at Titans did wonders for him in IPL 2022.

"It shocked him when he was not retained by Mumbai Indians," Shastri said in the commentary box during the 2nd ODI between India and England at Lord's on Thursday. 

"It was tough... MI had Ishan Kishan, Rohit Sharna, Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav, and Hardik Pandya so they had to pick three out of those five. Ishan Kishan was obviously picked in the auction.

"He was picked by Gujarat Titans, where he was given the extra responsibility of captaining, which did him a world of good. When given responsibility, he's a completely different cricket as opposed to just batting and fielding," added the former India head coach.

MI had problems of plenty when it come to retentions ahead of IPL 2022 mega auction as they had a squad full of match-winners. The franchise decided to keep hold of skipper Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav and Kieron Pollard as their 4 retentions while letting go of Pandya and Ishan Kishan among others.

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However, MI managed to buy back Ishan at the auction while Pandya was roped in by GT in the draft before the auction. Mumbai Indians endured a terrible campaign in IPL 2022 as they failed to qualify for the playoffs and finished at the bottom of the table losing 8 matches in a row at the start of the season.