Gujarat Titans' (GT) mentor Gary Kirsten heaped praise on captain Hardik Pandya after he led the new franchise to their maiden IPL trophy in their debut season in the recently concluded IPL 2022.
Pandya was not just fabulous as captain but was also brilliant as an all-rounder in the recently concluded IPL 2022, where he snared 8 wickets apart from scoring 487 runs for Gujarat Titans (GT).
He also led GT from the front in the IPL 2022 final, taking 3 crucial wickets and contributing 32 runs in his team’s 7-wicket win over Rajasthan Royals (RR) at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on May 29 and was named the Player of the Final.
Recently, Kirsten highlighted Hardik’s leadership qualities that helped him win the IPL 2022 trophy in his debut season as captain and suggested a lot of other captains can learn from the all-rounder.
As reported by Cricbuzz, Kirsten said: “His captaincy was beautiful to watch and a real lesson to many other captains. He never chased the spotlight and the profile that comes with the captaincy. He remained Hardik Pandya the person - easy to talk to, always asking questions about how he can improve, always humble about his own performance, always a calm energy on the field, and always a little quirky off the field.”
He added, “Hardik Pandya played a massive role as a captain and a very different batting role to what he has done in previous IPLs; he thrived in that space, and he loved it. He took on the responsibility of playing more of a middle-order, play-the-situation kind of role rather than just being a hitter at the back, and he did that fantastically.”
