Gujarat Titans head coach Ashish Nehra on Saturday said he never tried to convince Hardik Pandya against returning to Mumbai Indians but conceded that the star all-rounder’s experience would be dearly missed by the team in the IPL beginning on March 22.
Pandya, who led GT to the IPL title in their maiden year before taking them to the final last year, has moved back to Mumbai Indians as their skipper for the upcoming season.
“In any sport, you have to move on. You cannot buy experience and to replace someone like Hardik Pandya or (an injured) Mohammed Shami isn’t going to be easy. But that’s a learning curve and that’s how the team moves forward,” Nehra told media persons here on Saturday.
Pandya-Nehra combination had worked wonders for GT in their first two seasons and the inevitable question arose whether the head coach tried to stop the skipper from joining Mumbai Indians.
“I never tried to convince Pandya to stay back. As you play more, you gain experience. I could have stopped him had he gone to any other franchise. He (Pandya) played here for two years but he has gone to a team (MI), where he has played previously for 5-6 years,” Nehra was frank in his admission.
The way Pandya’s transfer took place, Nehra feels that day isn’t far away when IPL goes the European club football way.
“How the sport (cricket) is moving, we will have trades and transfers like we see in international soccer. It’s a new challenge for him and maybe he will learn something new and we wish him the best.”
