Hanuma Vihari has made a big claim about Hardik Pandya’s IPL future and said that he will come to Chennai Super Kings (CSK). Speaking on his YouTube channel, Vihari said that Zaheer Khan would be keen to bring in Pandya.
Zaheer was recently appointed the new head coach of Chennai Super Kings. He replaced Stephen Fleming, who coached CSK for 16 seasons. “CSK have completely changed their coaching staff. They are making changes. The interesting thing is about the trade now. There have been reports that say Hardik Pandya to CSK is certain, also looking at the equation with MS Dhoni,” Vihari said.
“Unless things go really bad, I feel he will come to CSK. It will be good for them if it happens. I think Zaheer would be keen to bring Hardik,” he added. Pandya has never played for CSK. He started his IPL career with Mumbai Indians (MI). The star all-rounder captained Gujarat Titans (GT) in IPL 2022 and 2023 before making his return to MI via trade.
Why Pandya could leave MI?
Pandya could leave MI due to the team’s below-par performance under him. MI sacked Rohit Sharma from captaincy after bringing back Pandya in 2023. Pandya-led MI had a forgettable IPL 2024 and they finished last in the points table.
MI qualified for the second round of IPL 2025 and crashed out after losing to Punjab Kings in the second qualifier. They failed to emulate their herics in IPL 2026 and finished in the ninth position. MI could either bring back Rohit as captain for one season or hand over the job to Tilak Varma, the present vice-captain of the T20I team.
They also have Suryakumar Yadav in their ranks. A T20 World Cup-winning captain, Suryakumar has never captained MI on a full-time basis. He was sacked as captain and dropped from the squad following the ICC event.
Disclaimer: This article summarizes a report by Hanuma Vihari. While Times Now has verified the public data presented, the interpretations of ‘intent’ remain those of the creator.