Hardik Pandya will move from Mumbai Indians to Punjab Kings, with Arshdeep Singh heading the other way, after the IPL confirmed the player swap on Wednesday. The announcement turns a much-discussed trade into a completed deal ahead of the 2027 season.
Both players will carry a fee of Rs18 crore at their new franchises. Pandya’s fee rises from Rs16.35 crore, while Arshdeep keeps his existing Rs18 crore fee, according to the official IPL media advisory.
Hardik’s second Mumbai spell ends
The move ends Pandya’s second stint with Mumbai, where he had been captain since returning in 2024. He first joined the franchise in 2015 and was part of its title-winning teams in 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2020.
Between his Mumbai spells, Pandya led Gujarat Titans to the title in their debut season in 2022 and to another final in 2023. Punjab will be his third IPL franchise.
The Cricinfo report on the confirmed trade said Mumbai won 15 and lost 24 of the 39 matches he captained from 2024 onwards. They reached the playoffs in 2025 but finished ninth in 2026. His departure leaves Mumbai needing a captain for next season; the trade advisory does not name a replacement.
Arshdeep gives Mumbai a left-arm pace option
Arshdeep leaves Punjab after eight seasons with the team that gave him his IPL debut in 2019. The league credited him with 111 wickets in 96 matches, making him Punjab’s leading wicket-taker in the competition.
He took 21 wickets in the 2025 season and 14 in 2026. For Mumbai, the attraction is a bowler who can work with the new ball and at the end of an innings alongside Jasprit Bumrah. That gives the swap a clear cricketing purpose beyond exchanging two prominent India players.
Punjab gain an experienced seam-bowling all-rounder and former title-winning captain, but the advisory does not appoint Pandya as their captain. His role and Mumbai’s new leadership are separate decisions from the trade itself.
The key change is now official: Pandya joins Punjab, Arshdeep joins Mumbai, and both franchises must build their 2027 combinations around the exchange. Earlier reports about talks should no longer be confused with the league’s confirmation.
Archive photo: Arshdeep Singh playing for India at the MCG during the 2022 T20 World Cup, November 6, 2022. Storm machine / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. Cropped and compressed to WebP; adapted image under the same licence. Not a Mumbai Indians or 2026 trade photograph.
