“Had My Best Years Under Him”: Hardik Pandya Once Credited Rohit Sharma’s Captaincy For his Success in Competitive Cricket

Indian captain Rohit Sharma is the most successful captain in the history of Indian Premier League. The right-handed batter became Mumbai Indians’ captain in 2013 and he won the tournament that year itself. Apart from 2013, Mumbai won the IPL trophy in 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2020 as well.

All-rounder Hardik Pandya was bought by Mumbai in 2015 and it can be said that the franchise has played a major part in his development. Former Indian batter Sachin Tendulkar predicted in IPL 2015 that Pandya will be playing for India very soon. Pandya made his debut for India in 2016.

Both Pandya and Sharma are significant pillars of the Indian team at the moment. Sharma is the captain in all three formats of the game, whereas Pandya is his deputy in both white-ball formats.

Hardik Pandya Once Credited Rohit Sharma’s Captaincy For his Success in Competitive Cricket

After winning the IPL trophy in 2020, Pandya gave an interview to Mumbai Indians where he highlighted the role of Sharma in his career. He admitted that Sharma’s leadership has played a huge role in his development. Pandya described Sharma as someone who doesn’t talk about cricket off the field and keeps the mood relaxed in the camp.

“I have always enjoyed playing with Rohit and he has been a great captain. We don’t have many conversations about the game but I have had my best years playing under him,” Pandya was quoted as saying by the franchise in 2020.

🗣️ | From sharing success with Boom to playing under Ro, @hardikpandya7 talks about his rapport with MI teammates 💙#OneFamily @Jaspritbumrah93 @ImRo45 @KieronPollard55 @krunalpandya24 pic.twitter.com/vLN34YHcyF

— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) June 6, 2020

Pandya won three IPL trophies with Mumbai before switching to Gujarat Titans in 2022. Playing for Mumbai, Pandya scored 1476 runs in 85 innings at a strike-rate of 153.91 with the help of four half-centuries. He scalped 42 wickets in bowling as well.

Rohit Sharma batting record as IPL captain

Sharma has led Mumbai in 148 IPL matches, where he has won 81 and lost 63 games. MI’s winning percentage under Sharma has been 56.08%. The last couple of seasons have not been great for Mumbai and they have not been able to make it to the playoffs.

Talking about his individual performances as captain, he has scored 3833 runs with the help of 24 half-centuries. He has smashed 358 boundaries and 153 sixes during the process.