Hardik Pandya trade rumours explained: Delhi Capitals, Chennai Super Kings in running to snap MI captain?

The IPL 2027 trade window has thrown another curveball around Hardik Pandya’s future, with Delhi Capitals now stepping into the picture after earlier reports suggested his proposed switch to Chennai Super Kings had stalled.

According to reports from Times of India, Delhi Capitals are now the front runners in the race to snap up the Mumbai Indians captain.

DC are reportedly willing to let go of both captain Axar Patel and opening batter Prithvi Shaw as part of a package to bring the current Mumbai Indians skipper into their fold.

What catches people off guard in this whole story is the timing. Delhi Capitals had barely finished celebrating the return of Rishabh Pant from Lucknow Super Giants once IPL 2026 ended, and now they’re already chasing another marquee name.

Hardik Pandya trade rumours explained

The franchise reportedly views Hardik as someone capable of strengthening their batting and bowling units simultaneously, while also bringing genuine leadership experience to the dressing room.

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From Mumbai’s perspective, the deal makes considerable sense too. The five-time champions have been on the lookout for a genuine spin-bowling all-rounder ever since Krunal Pandya’s departure to Royal Challengers Bengaluru, and Axar Patel fits that role almost perfectly.

Beyond his bowling, Axar also brings runs with the bat, which adds further value to any potential swap. Meanwhile, Hardik currently pockets ₹16.35 crore at Mumbai Indians, while Axar takes home ₹16.50 crore at Delhi Capitals, so neither side would be stretching its budget unusually to make this work.

Shaw’s name is where the whole arrangement gets tricky. Mumbai Indians aren’t exactly jumping at the idea of bringing him on board, mainly because he hasn’t turned out in a single IPL fixture over the past two seasons.

If that’s a dealbreaker, Mumbai might push to swap him out for someone else entirely, and Sameer Rizvi’s name keeps surfacing in these talks, largely on the back of a breakout IPL 2026, where he racked up 252 runs in just nine outings.

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Why did Chennai Super Kings move fall through?

Chennai Super Kings had been in the running to sign Hardik earlier, but negotiations between the two franchises eventually broke down over disagreements on the final package. 

Mumbai, for their part, had wanted both Shivam Dube and Ayush Mhatre thrown into the mix in exchange for Hardik, an ask Chennai simply weren’t prepared to meet, particularly since letting Mhatre go was never really on the table for them.

From there, talks shifted toward a version involving Dube alongside Dewald Brevis, but Mumbai then tacked on a request for an extra ₹10 crore on top of that. Chennai baulked at paying that premium, and with Mumbai holding firm on their asking price, the whole deal quietly fell apart.

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