'At PBKS, he should look to regain his form as a batter, a bowler, and a finisher. There is no doubt that he is a great player. So it is good that he is not the captain. He can focus on his game.'

Mohammed Kaif says Hardik Pandya made a mistake by leaving Gujarat Titans to return to Mumbai Indians in 2024.

After days of speculation, the much-anticipated trade between Mumbai Indians and Punjab Kings took place on Wednesday as Hardik was traded for left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh.

Hardik will join PBKS at a fee of Rs 18 crore, up from his existing fee of Rs 16.35 crore, while Arshdeep will join MI at his existing fee of Rs 18 crore.

Hardik's 'Blunder'

After seven seasons with MI, Hardik moved to new franchise Gujarat Titans (GT) ahead of IPL 2022 and made an immediate impact as captain, leading them to the title in their debut season.

GT also reached the final in 2023 before Pandya returned to MI in 2024 and took over the captaincy.

'It was a blunder by Hardik to leave GT. I think it was an emotional call. He had a connection with MI, and maybe that drew him back. It is always a tough call. You made GT champions and were the king there,' Kaif said on his YouTube channel.

'But that decision hurt him. He went backwards in his performance and captaincy. It would be better for him to forget the second part with MI as soon as he can and move forward,' Kaif added.

Performance Under Captaincy

In 31 matches as GT captain, Hardik made 833 runs in 30 innings at an average of 37.86 and a strike rate of 133.49, with six fifties and took 11 wickets at an average of 40.91.

While he did lose his explosiveness with the responsibility of the captaincy, the maturity in Hardik's batting was evident as he scored an IPL career-best 487 runs in 14 matches with four fifties in his debut campaign.

'Many players want captaincy. But a lot of them do not perform well under the pressure of captaincy. It is not everybody's cup of tea. It is even more difficult in the IPL anyway. It will be good for Hardik that he is not captain,' Kaif said.

'At PBKS, he should look to regain his form as a batter, a bowler, and a finisher. There is no doubt that he is a great player. So it is good that he is not the captain. He can focus on his game. Being an all-rounder and a captain is all the more difficult,' Kaif added.

In Hardik's second stint with MI, spanning three seasons, he managed 647 runs in 39 matches and 35 innings at an average of 21.53 and a strike rate of 147.82, with a best score of 48 not out. He took 29 wickets in 39 matches at an average of over 34, with a five-wicket haul to his name.

Under Hardik's captaincy, in the 2025 season, MI reached the playoffs but finished at the bottom and in 9th place in the 2024 and 2026 seasons, respectively.

Across 162 IPL matches, Hardik has scored 2,955 runs at a strike rate of 146.28 and claimed 82 wickets.