All eyes were on the Narendra Modi Stadium pitch four months ago when India played Australia in the 2023 World Cup final. On Friday, two days before the first IPL match at this Motera venue, no one bothered to have a look at the uncovered 22-yard strip.

It was all about Hardik Pandya on his home turf in a new avatar and, as the Mumbai Indians’s (MI) new captain, his equation with India skipper Rohit Sharma.