Kickstarting his Mumbai Indians (MI) captaincy stint on Sunday, all-rounder Hardik Pandya marshalled his troops in match No.5 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 against his former side Gujarat Titans (GT) at the Narendra Modi Stadium. Pandya completed a sensational switch from Gujarat Titans to Mumbai in the lead-up to the IPL 2024 auction. The white-ball maverick is making his comeback from a 'freak' ankle injury in the 2024 edition of the IPL.

Local hero Pandya guided debutants Gujarat Titans to their first-ever IPL title triumph in the 2022 season. With Hardik at the helm, Gujarat contested back-to-back IPL finals in 2022 and 2023. Returning to MI for IPL 2023 after an all-cash deal, Hardik replaced Rohit Sharma as the captain of the Mumbai Indians. Winning the toss and opting to bowl first, Mumbai skipper Pandya issued a noteworthy statement following his IPL homecoming.

"Feels good to be back. My birthplace is Gujarat, a lot of success came in Gujarat, very grateful to the crowd and this state. My cricketing birth happened in Mumbai, so really good to be back. It's been almost two weeks, we started the camp. Boys are very eager to go out there and perform," Pandya told former Indian head coach Ravi Shastri at the toss.