“That’s entire team purse”- Netizens shocked as report suggests Mumbai Indians paid mammoth transfer fee for Hardik Pandya

The Indian Express reported that Mumbai Indians paid Gujarat Titans an amount with almost equaled the value of an IPL team's purse.

“That’s entire team purse”- Netizens shocked as report suggests Mumbai Indians paid mammoth transfer fee for Hardik Pandya

Mukesh Ambani's Mumbai Indians reportedly paid ₹100 crore for Hardik Pandya (Images via ESPN and The CEO Magazine)

The cricketing world was surprised when Hardik Pandya returned to Mumbai Indians after he led the Gujarat Titans for two seasons. There were many more shocking announcements, such as Rohit Sharma being removed as captain only to be replaced by Pandya and many reports saying that Pandya only agreed to come if he was made captain. 

Now a report by Indian Express has reported that Mumbai Indians had paid an extra fee to get the services of Pandya. It was known that MI had paid the extra fee, most did not know how much it was. Now the Indian Express has reported that the franchise had paid a whopping ₹100 crore.

This was good news for the CVC Capital Partners, the owners of Gujarat Titans. The company had invested ₹5625 crore, and the sale of Pandya earned them the amount. It also helped the team, as ₹15 crore was added in their auction purse. They ended up ₹30.3 crore in the Auction, with Spencer Johnson being their most expensive buy. 

Related: “They didn’t even contact me before Pandya’s trade,” Rohit Sharma says he wasn’t INFORMED about captaincy change according to rumors, but did he say such things?

Netizens can’t believe their eyes 

Many were shocked when the news of Pandya’s transfer fee broke out. Many called it ridiculous and overpriced. As it was almost the entire purse of an IPL team, many were shocked how MI were ready to spend that much. Others speculated that there could be a potential deal between Reliance and CVC, the owners of MI and GT, due to this trade. 

Hardik Pandya
Hardik Pandya played his last match for the Gujarat Titans in the 2023 IPL finals (Image via ESPN)

Check out the reactions below:

With many reports of Hardik Pandya being ruled out of the 2024 IPL being debunked, the all-rounder is expected to return in January. The Indian team will be playing a T20I series with Afghanistan, with Pandya expected to lead the side as well.

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