Delhi: How are teams formed in IPL? One way is the trade window. This option of buying/selling players was there earlier also, but in recent years, the trade window has been used by franchises as a special way to buy/sell players. These days, Hardik Pandya's name is in discussion in the trade window market and there is speculation of 3-4 teams taking him. The special factor associated with him is his price as well as his desire to remain captain.

Earlier 5 most talked about trade window transfers in IPL:

1. Zaheer Khan-Robin Uthappa (2009): This is one of the first trades in IPL where this option of team making was used. Before the 2009 season, Mumbai Indians traded Robin Uthappa to Royal Challengers Bangalore in exchange for Zaheer Khan. The special thing is that this was a simple player-for-player affair in which no cash was involved. While Uthappa was an aggressive batsman, Zaheer was an experienced fast bowler, i.e. two different types of players, this transfer fulfilled the needs of both the teams and showed that franchises can talk to each other to give a new shape to their team, and not wait till the auction.

2. Shikhar Dhawan (2019): This marks the beginning of one of the most intriguing and interesting multiplayer trades of the IPL trade window. Shikhar Dhawan used to play for Sunrisers Hyderabad and of his own free will went back to the same Delhi franchise from where his IPL journey started. This trade was not just about exchanging Dhawan for another player. Delhi Daredevils covered Dhawan's contract value and sent Vijay Shankar, Shahbaz Nadeem and Abhishek Sharma to Sunrisers Hyderabad in exchange for him.

Then no one had even imagined that the young Abhishek Sharma, who was released by Delhi as 'useless', would go on to prove to be one of the most sensational cricketers of T20. This trade is an example of the great uncertainty that a deal should not be judged only on what was received at the time, it is also important to know what the players involved become in the future?

3. Quinton de Kock (2019): Quinton de Kock then went from Royal Challengers Bangalore to Mumbai Indians and this change did not seem much.

RCB had bought the South African wicketkeeper-batsman for Rs 2.8 crore in the 2018 auction. What happened next made the deal one of the most successful trades in IPL history. De Kock, then, became a brilliant opening partner to Rohit Sharma and Khabbu provided Mumbai top order balance with the bat, while wicketkeeping was another need for the team.

Scored 529 runs in IPL 2019 and helped Mumbai win the title. After this, he performed brilliantly in 2020 also and Mumbai saved its championship title. In three seasons with Mumbai, De Kock scored more than 1,300 runs.

4. Ravichandran Ashwin (2020): Ravichandran Ashwin's trade from Kings XI Punjab to Delhi Capitals was much talked about. Ashwin was the captain of Kings XI Punjab in 2018 and 2019 but the team did not play in the playoffs in either year. Eventually, Punjab traded him to Delhi Capitals. In this deal, Jagadeesha Suchit went to Punjab team and also gave Rs 1.5 crore in cash to meet R Ashwin's fee of Rs 7.6 crore. Punjab had initially asked for New Zealand fast bowler Trent Boult but things did not work out.

5. Hardik Pandya (2024): The most talked about and drama happened in this trade, just like the drama is happening now for Hardik. This is also the first trade deal which passed the criteria of IPL conditions but which was considered 'wrong'. Hardik started his IPL career with Mumbai as an uncapped player. Mumbai released him before the 2022 mega auction, Gujarat Titans bought him and made him captain. This decision changed Gujarat's fortunes and Hardik led the new franchise to the IPL title in its very first season in 2022 and played the final again in 2023.

Even then, before the 2024 season, Hardik returned to Mumbai on his own will, Mumbai put Rs 15 crore in Gujarat's purse for him. This deal was completely a cash trade and no player went to Gujarat in exchange for Hardik. On the other hand, to raise this money, Mumbai traded Cameron Green to Royal Challengers Bangalore for Rs 17.5 crore. The matter did not end here. They believe that the decline of Mumbai Indians' IPL record started from here. He became the captain in place of Rohit Sharma, but the fans could not tolerate this change and now the situation has come that Hardik's departure from Mumbai after just two seasons has become 'right' for the team and himself.