Baroda all-rounder Krunal Pandya will find himself in a new and unfamiliar position in the upcoming IPL mega auction. From being a quintessential cog to MI’s dominating scheme of things, the 30-year-old left armer seems to have run out of favor with the iconic IPL franchise.
Krunal’s last two IPL seasons have been underwhelming
In part, Krunal’s diminishing returns with the bat and ball could be attributed to why he wasn’t even considered as a candidate worthy of retention. In his last two seasons for the Mumbai Indians, Krunal batted in the middle order at an unremarkable strike rate of 117 and claimed only 11 wickets.
Clearly, such unimpressive stats weren’t going to be nearly enough to help Krunal leap frog in MI’s pecking order of marquee players; and that’s the reason why he currently finds himself out in the auction pool wilderness.
But despite his uninspiring recent form, Krunal has marked himself at the highest base price bracket of INR 2 Crores. It would be interesting to see if Mumbai consider the prospects of getting him back into their scheme of things in auctions. Or it could well be that the newbie Gujarat Titans franchise snap him up and reunite the Pandya brothers back together. After all, with Hardik being at the helm of leadership of the Ahmedabad unit, the scenario seems almost virtually guaranteed. Right?
Well, it seems that Krunal, for one, would beg to differ with such pre-conceived notions. Over on a recent interview with ESPNCricinfo, the elder Pandya sibling revealed that he has no idea if Hardik would want to have him in his team. He further went on to say that he’d just like to play for any side that picks him, regardless of whether or not Hardik is there.
“Don’t know if Hardik wants me in his team”- Krunal Pandya
“I don’t know if he (Hardik Pandya) wants me. He can pick me from the auction, or I am happy to go anywhere where I can”, Krunal said.
Despite not knowing Hardik’s thoughts on having his brother as a teammate, Krunal seemed fairly confident about Hardik’s captaincy debut for Ahmedabad in the IPL. He claimed that Hardik has all the qualities of a natural leader, and often operated as a core member of the leadership unit for Mumbai.
“He has all the qualities, he has been a leader in self-playing for Mumbai (Indians) and Indian cricket (team) as well. I am so happy that he has got this opportunity because people will see his real leadership qualities going forward,” Krunal said.