Biggest trade in IPL history: Hardik joins Punjab for Rs 18 crore, Arshdeep moves to the Mumbai team

Arshdeep joins Mumbai at current price of Rs 18 crore

New Delhi. In the biggest and most awaited trade of the Indian Premier League (IPL), all-rounder Hardik Pandya has joined Punjab Kings for an increased price of Rs 18 crore while Mumbai Indians have replaced him with fast bowler Arshdeep Singh in their team.

Hardik has moved from Mumbai Indians to Punjab Kings for more than his current fee of Rs 16.35 crore while Arshdeep has joined Mumbai for the current fee of Rs 18 crore.

Earlier this year (before the last season of IPL), Chennai Super Kings (CSK) had bought Sanju Samson from Rajasthan Royals for Rs 18 crore. In return, Rajasthan Royals included Ravindra Jadeja from CSK for Rs 14 crore and Sam Curran for Rs 2.4 crore. The transfer fee is a mutual agreement between the two franchises and is separate from the retention fee (i.e.

the salary paid by the franchise to the player).

Hardik's fees increased by Rs 1.65 crore

Both the teams mutually decided that Hardik's fee will increase by Rs 1.65 crore and as per the existing rules, he will get 50 percent of this increase. Mumbai Indians will get the remaining amount. In this way, Hardik's second tenure with Mumbai Indians has also ended. He first joined Mumbai Indians in 2015 and won four titles with the franchise.

This 33-year-old player played an important role in helping the team win titles in 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2020.

Hardik was associated with Gujarat team in 2022

After spending seven seasons with the Mumbai team, Hardik joined Gujarat Titans in 2022 for a fee of Rs 15 crore and led the franchise to the title in his very first season. Gujarat team also reached the final in 2023. Hardik returned to Mumbai Indians in 2024 and took over the captaincy in place of Rohit Sharma, but in the meantime, his team's performance was very poor.

Hardik was troubled by injuries, however, he was troubled by the circumstances. After assuming the captaincy of Mumbai Indians, he had to face constant booing from the audience. The situation got a little better in the second session but the situation started worsening in the third session.

Controversy became the issue of Rohit's exclusion from the team

Meanwhile, reports of differences in the dressing room also came to light and it became clear that all was not well between the senior players.

These players also included former Indian T20 team captain Suryakumar Yadav and fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah, who were ignored for captaincy. The issue of Rohit being suddenly dropped from the team also remained a subject of controversy and now there are speculations that the franchise may again give him the captaincy in his possibly last season. Tilak Verma is likely to be made the vice captain.

Arshdeep was associated with Punjab in 2019

Arshdeep is now joining the Mumbai team after playing for the Punjab team for eight seasons. This fast bowler made his IPL debut with the Punjab team in 2019 and left his mark as a left-arm fast bowler. He has taken 111 wickets in 96 matches of IPL, which is a record for Punjab Kings. He took 21 wickets in the 2025 season and 14 wickets in the 2026 season. The 27-year-old player is also India's highest wicket-taker in the T20 format. He has taken 151 wickets in 104 matches.

end-of