India, Nov. 11 -- In July 2024, when the Indian team's grand open-top bus victory parade reached the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, the iconic venue that had turned hostile towards Hardik Pandya through the previous IPL summer, rose to applaud the all-rounder. India had won the T20 World Cup a few days earlier, and Hardik had been one of the chief architects of that triumph.

That contradiction underlined Hardik's second stint at Mumbai Indians. There was redemption, a promising revival in 2025, but the pendulum swung the other way the following year. Eventually, Mumbai ran out of patience.

On Wednesday, bringing an end to weeks of speculation, Hardik's second chapter at the franchise closed with a trade that sent him to Punjab Kings, with ...