Former Indian captain and commentator Kris Srikkanth weighed in with his views on the potential trade between Mumbai Indians (MI) and Punjab Kings (PBKS) involving two Indian cricket stars, Hardik Pandya and Arshdeep Singh.
Speaking exclusively on his YouTube channel, Srikkanth asserted that PBKS are ahead in terms of the trade deal, adding that MI will perform now as a team under Rohit Sharma’s captaincy from the IPL 2027 season. Srikkanth also stated that Hardik will not get captaincy at PBKS and he needs to play under Shreyas Iyer.
“This trade will definitely benefit Punjab more than Mumbai. With Hardik, they’ll have so many all-rounders, even though I won’t accept Shedge as an all-rounder despite him playing for India. I don’t know how he played for India. But overall, it’s a big plus for PBKS. Yes, MI will also benefit with Arshdeep replacing Boult. Also, now MI will start playing as a team. Rohit will surely be the captain,” he said on his YouTube channel.
“But there is no chance for Hardik to become PBKS captain. Shreyas Iyer will definitely be the captain 100%. Ponting bought Iyer only because he wanted him to captain. So there is no scope for Hardik to become PBKS captain. And if they make Hardik the captain, they’ll fall apart, and there will only be conflicts, as was the case in MI,” he added.
Srikkanth also noted that PBKS should release their all-rounder Marcus Stoinis and bring in another pacer as Arshdeep’s replacement. He went on to add that MI should let go of Deepak Chahar ahead of the retention deadline.
“PBKS will also give away Stoinis and get another pacer from outside. So this is definitely a better trade for PBKS. They didn’t have a middle-order batter who can smash it. They were playing with Shedge half the season. So now with Hardik replacing him, they’ll be even stronger. Of course, with Arshdeep, MI should also let go of Deepak Chahar and not foolishly retain him,” he concluded.
