Irfan Pathan picks ‘winner’ of Hardik Pandya-Arshdeep Singh trade

Former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan has picked Mumbai Indians as the clear winners of the trade between Hardik Pandya and Arshdeep Singh. The much-anticipated was officially confirmed by both teams on Wednesday.

Arshdeep Singh will partner with Jasprit Bumrah and he will certainly boost Mumbai Indians’ bowling line-up. Singh can get the new ball to swing in the Powerplay and he can also be accurate in the death overs.

On the other hand, Hardik Pandya last played professional cricket in IPL 2026 and he has troubled by injury woes in the recent past.

“I think they (MI) are the clear winner in this trade because it will sort out their bowling,” Pathan said on Cricinfo. “I really think there was a lot of responsibility on Jasprit Bumrah. Look, Jasprit Bumrah is capable of taking any kind of responsibility. But last year, what we have seen, he didn’t perform as much as we all would have liked. I always see Jasprit Bumrah taking responsibility, but sometimes it doesn’t happen. He’s also human. So you need someone who can support him from the other end. And what will happen if Arshdeep Singh plays regularly for Mumbai Indians? He will get the swing, so that means you will be able to see Jasprit Bumrah in different phases with freehand, because this is what you know the captain of Mumbai Indians, Rohit Sharma, has done for many years in the past.”

Meanwhile, the 2007 T20 World Cup winner said Arshdeep Singh will replace Trent Boutl and he will free up overseas slot in the team.

“Punjab has done really well under Shreyas Iyer as a leader. So it will be very interesting how Hardik Pandya plays under Shreyas Iyer. If that happens nicely and smoothly, then things are very good for Punjab… With Hardik Pandya coming in, one thing is for sure: they will get good finishing touches as far as the batting is concerned. But what it does is, with Arshdeep Singh going away, it makes their bowling weaker. Look, I really think Yuzi is not at his peak… He is one of the legendary bowlers in the IPL, but his performance, his economy, his numbers are going down. So if one more bowler goes away from you and then, you know, you see who the other Indian bowler is who will do the job that Arshdeep Singh used to do? They’ll be missing him big time,” he said.

IPL 2027 auction will be held in Goa in mid-December.