Will Gujarat Titans bid for NZ captain Kane Williamson? GT captain Hardik Pandya replies

After New Zealand captain Kane Williamson was shockingly released by the SunRisers Hyderabad ahead of the Indian Premier League's (IPL's) mega auction on December 13, Team India skipper Hardik Pandya has given his take on whether his Gujarat Titans (GT) side will bid for the 32-year-old. Pandya was asked this question as he gets set to lead the Men in Blue for a three-match T20I series against the Blackcaps.

Will Gujarat Titans bid for Kane Williamson? Hardik replies

When asked if the Gujarat Titans will bid for Kane Williamson in the upcoming IPL mega auction, Hardik Pandya responded, "For him, because he is a friend, yes. Rest it is okay. IPL is IPL, right now I am playing for India." When further quizzed on this question, the Team India captain added, "Don't know, too far ahead to think about it now."

Hardik, who was a key member of Team India's squad at the recently concluded T20 World Cup in Australia, will now lead the side in a three-match series against New Zealand in the absence of full-time skipper Rohit Sharma. The Men in Blue had a disappointing performance at the World Cup as they suffered a dismal defeat against England in the semi-finals.

Speaking of the same, Hardik said, "I mean, yes, we all know there is a disappointment of the World Cup but we are professionals, we need to cope with it. How we cope with our successes as well, we need to cope with our failures as well. We need to go forward and look forward and kind of rectify the mistakes we made and make sure we do not repeat that."

Following a below-par performance at the World Cup, Team India has given rest to several of the big names and has instead chosen to give a chance to the youngsters. The full squad for both sides are given below:

Team India: Hardik Pandya (C), Shubman Gill, Ishan Kishan, Deepak Hooda, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (VC and WK), Sanju Samson (WK), Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Harshal Patel, Mohd. Siraj, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umran Malik.

New Zealand: Kane Williamson (c), Finn Allen, Michael Bracewell, Devon Conway (wk), Lockie Ferguson, Daryl Mitchell, Adam Milne, Jimmy Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Blair Tickner