“He’s got a lot of followers. He’s an icon. He brings in a lot, his experience, you know, more than anything…Mumbai will benefit from Arshdeep and we will benefit from Hardik. It is the biggest trade in IPL history,” he added.

Wadia also said that Pandya, who is an IPL wining captain with Gujarat Titans, will be happy to play under Shreyas.

“Shreyas has a very good relationship with Hardik. Ricky has worked with Hardik in the past. It’s a win-win for everyone. From our perspective, we felt that we needed to improve things going forward. And from that perspective, it seemed like a good swap to get Hardik, who’s a world-class player, who’s won several trophies, five IPL trophies, and three or four ICC,” he said.

On Wednesday, Pandya, who began his IPL journey with MI in 2015 and later switched to Gujarat Titans in 2022 before returning to the franchise in 2024, has been traded for Rs 18 crore.

This will be Pandya’s third franchise in the IPL. In 2024, he returned to MI after having previously lead Gujarat to the title in 2022. Pandya’s trade was one of the biggest deals at the time, switching back to Mumbai for Rs 15 crore. He replaced Rohit Sharma as captain, a move that received severe backlash from Mumbai fans around the country.

Pandya has aggregated 2322 runs for MI in 131 matches while picking up 71 wickets. The 33-year-old all-rounder has been out of action since the 2026 IPL season, having endured a spate of various injuries that has delayed his returned to the field.

Meanwhile, Arshdeep’s move to Mumbai will mark his second franchise outside Punjab. The left-arm pacer made his IPL debut in 2022 with Punjab and subsequently emerged as India’s front-line seamer in the T20I format, featuring in three successive World Cup campaigns. A two-time World Cup winner, Arshdeep is India’s most successful seamer in the shortest format.