“Kill me for saying this” – Aakash Chopra on potential MI-PBKS trade ahead of IPL 2027 auction

Former India player Aakash Chopra has opined that the Mumbai Indians (MI) might not miss Hardik Pandya much in IPL 2027 if the all-rounder is traded out. He pointed out that the five-time champions have a formidable batting and bowling lineup even without their last season’s captain.

Reports suggest MI would trade Hardik to the Punjab Kings (PBKS) ahead of the IPL 2027 auction. The Mumbai-based franchise would reportedly get Arshdeep Singh in return.

Reflecting on the potential trade in a video shared on his YouTube channel, ‘Aakash Chopra,’ the former India opener reckoned that the Mumbai Indians won’t be disadvantaged much even if they let Hardik go.

“The Punjab team has made up its mind to let Arshdeep Singh go. Then Arshdeep and Jasprit Bumrah playing for the Mumbai Indians, and either Deepak Chahar or Corbin Bosch with them, and then they have Mitchell Santner and Allah Ghazanfar in spin bowling,” Chopra said.

“It’s a serious attack. Will they miss Hardik? Kill me for saying this, they won’t miss him as much. You know how much I like Hardik Pandya, but the truth is that they will manage,” he added.

Chopra highlighted that MI would have great depth and quality in their batting even if they release Hardik.

“If you see their batting, Rohit Sharma comes with either Ryan Rickelton or Quinton de Kock. Then you have Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav, Sherfane Rutherford to bat in the middle, and Naman Dhir. You have depth and quality in batting. You can now play Will Jacks easily,” he observed.

While acknowledging that Hardik Pandya is an incredible player, Aakash Chopra pointed out that the Mumbai Indians would be fine without him due to Naman Dhir‘s improved skill set. He highlighted that MI’s batting is fully ready and that they might also get either Nehal Wadhera or Vishnu Vinod along with Arshdeep Singh.

“Your bowling has been extremely ordinary” – Aakash Chopra on PBKS potentially losing Arshdeep Singh ahead of IPL 2027 auction

In the same video, Aakash Chopra noted that Arshdeep Singh‘s potential release would further weaken the Punjab Kings’ already ordinary bowling attack.

“You are losing Arshdeep Singh as part of this trade. Your bowling was already weak. You had several bowlers, but the quality was missing. Your bowling has been extremely ordinary. You scored runs, but conceded a lot of runs,” he said.

The former Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) player added that the Shreyas Iyer-led side might look to acquire an Indian seamer from either the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) or the Gujarat Titans (GT) as part of another trade deal.

“This means another trade will be triggered. Punjab can go towards two franchises to ask for fast bowlers. They have Nehal Wadhera or someone else remaining whom they can give, and they (the other franchise) can give them an Indian fast bowler in return. One is the Lucknow Super Giants and the other is the Gujarat Titans,” Chopra observed.

Aakash Chopra pointed out that LSG and GT have a plethora of Indian fast bowlers in their squads. He added that both franchises need a middle-order batter and could take one of Nehal Wadhera, Shashank Singh, Marcus Stoinis, or Azmatullah Omarzai in return.

Edited by Kartik Iyer