Tuesday 23 / April / 2024
Team India management missed a golden opportunity to name Hardik Pandya as the Captain of the T20 series against South Africa after KL Rahul picked up a groin injury and instead named Rishab Pant has been named as the Captain.
Hardik Pandya who was instrumental with both and bat and leading from the front to fashion them into a winning outfit in their very first season in the world's Premier franchise cricket ten days ago at the Iconic Narendra Modi Stadium. Not many had given Gujarat Titans any chance when the season began as barring Rashid Khan, the franchise did not have any big names but Hardik Pandya got the best from all his players like Wriddiman Saha, Shubman Gill, David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Mohammed Shami,
Lockie Ferguson and Yash Dayal and every player put their hand up and gave their best and won them a game or two and in the end Gujarat Titans were clinical in winning the finals against Rajasthan Royals.
And who lead them from the front, it was their captain who first picked up three crucial wickets and also chipped in useful 34 runs and ensured there were not hiccups and lifted the coveted Ipk trophy. He lead from the front scoring 497 runs, the highest runs for his franchise and also picked up eight wickets at an economy of just 7.25 per over. He was street smart in getting the right bowlers at the right time and his match ups were spot on in almost every game where Gujarat Titans just lost four leagues games out of the 14 and won the qualifier and finals easily.
India's World Cup winning coach who was a part of the Gujarat Titans coaching team said that leadership csme naturally to Hardik Pandya and that Hardik Pandya plays the game instinctively and takes the game on. He added that Hardik Pandya engages in a lot of cricket conversations and wants to learn, get better and improve and understand his players.
India has announced KL Rahul as the captain before the IPl got over and this was the best chance for team India to test his captaincy in an international format with the T20 World Cup just four months away. There were already talks about him being the future captain after he lead his side to the IPl title and one
wonders why the think tank of India let waste this opportunity when Rahul got injured. Rishab Pant had struggled as Captain and as a batsman for Delhi Capitals and this was the right time to test Hardik Pandya.
Sunil Gavaskar summed very well that when you have leadership qualities, it automatically opens the door for honours at the national level to be able to captain the Indian Nation team. The way Hardik Pandya led from the front and the way he got his franchise players to gel as a team means he has leadership qualities. India has appointed Rohit Sharma as the captain after Virat Kohli had stepped down but with Rohit being in the twilight of his career at 35 years, India could not have asked for a better
replacement than Mota bhai, Hardik Pandya
