Former Indian Test opener Sadagopan Ramesh has urged Chennai Super Kings not to trade out their blossoming youngsters ahead of IPL 2027 in order to rope in Hardik Pandya. It has been reported that CSK are targeting Mumbai Indians skipper, who is currently out of action with an injury.
Ramesh reckons CSK needs a proven player like Hardik Pandya but he doesn’t need to lead the side. Pandya hasn’t been able to deliver the goods as a leader for Mumbai Indians as the franchise has been able to make it to the playoffs on a solitary occasion in three seasons.
On the other hand, young players like Urvil Patel, Ayush Mhatre and Dewald Brevis have been the positives for Chennai Super Kings.
Sadagopan Ramesh said on his Instagram handle, “There are a lot of speculations around this with several players like Dube, Mhatre and Brevis being mentioned. But the biggest question is whether CSK needs Hardik Pandya. The answer is both yes and no. Firstly, there is no way CSK should let go of youngsters. Yet, CSK are in desperate need of proven players. So as a player, CSK needs Hardik Pandya. But, he is absolutely not needed as a captain.”
“I’ve always seen Hardik Pandya as two parts – an extraordinary cricketer and a poor captain. Yes, he led GT to the title. But it has become clearer once he left GT that even without him as captain, GT has not suffered. They just reached the final again. But see where the team he captained, MI, has been in the same timeframe. Thus, it’s clear that beyond his captaincy, certain things have clicked in GT.”
Meanwhile, Hardik Pandya scored 206 runs in 10 matches of IPL 2026 for MI and scalped four wickets at a high economy rate of 11.42. Ramesh reckons Pandya’s own performance hasn’t helped his captaincy.
“Coming to MI, people can say other senior players’ poor form hasn’t helped him as captain. But his own performance with bat and ball hasn’t helped MI either. Hardik’s own performance hasn’t helped his captaincy. He bowled only 22 overs in 10 matches, which means he has bowled only two overs per game. And he didn’t bowl the important overs often, while also batting too low on most occasions. It shows that he underutilized himself,” said Ramesh (via the aforementioned source).
“A good captain is one who leads from the front and faces the music when the situation is most challenging. Hardik did that for GT but failed to do so for MI. Hardik was nowhere to be found in the important moments for MI. The fact that he did all this for GT makes it clear that Ashish Nehra pushed him there. So to get the best out of Hardik Pandya, a good captain and coach is needed.”
MI ended the previous season in the penultimate position, managing only four wins in 14 games.
