Rashid Khan exclaims Hardik Pandya’s stint as Gujarat Titans skipper this year brought the best out of him across all aspects of his game.
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Had it not been for Hardik Pandya’s all-round performance with both bat and the ball on Sunday during team India’s Asia Cup 2022 opener against Pakistan, the story could have been something else for the defending champions, who sealed a nail-biting chase of a rather modest total.
The match-winning Six, preceded by three crucial boundaries during the penultimate Over of the match, paved the way for India’s five-wicket victory versus their arch-rivals at the Dubai International Stadium. Earlier, a three-fer, with bowling figures of 4-0-25-3, was instrumental in restricting Pakistan to a fairly gettable target.
The rise and shine of Pandya ever since the commencement of his days as the Gujarat Titans skipper this year, has been a one to remember for him and the cricketing fraternity so far, which also saw him captaining the Indian side during their 2-0 victory in the away T20I series against Ireland in June.
Rashid Khan exclaims Hardik Pandya’s hard work as GT skipper did wonders for him
Pandya not only took the huge call of leading the brand new Gujarat franchise despite a long return back from injury, but also nailed the same by lifting the title in their debut season itself.
Moreover, averaging 44.27 with 487 runs across 15 innings, he also emerged to be the highest run-scorer for GT in the season.
Afghanistan leg-spinner Rashid Khan, who was part of the IPL champion side as well, and also their second-highest wicket-taker (19 wickets), spoke at length regarding the hard work put in by his IPL team skipper, which has now made him a mentally strong character, delivering match-winning performances for the Indian team.
“Hardik Pandya likes to take responsibility. Captaining Gujarat has changed his mindset a lot, he knows his strength, takes the game deep, bats through the innings, and is mentally strong in any situation. India missed him a lot in the previous matches. The hard work he put on during the IPL helped him,” remarked Rashid ahead of Afghanistan’s clash against Bangladesh in their second match of Asia Cup 2022 today.
