The rise of Hardik Pandya after his back injury has been a journey to be proud of. India’s ace all-rounder was dropped from the team after the ICC T20 World Cup 2021, and he did not play a single competitive game till IPL 2022. In IPL 2022, he was named the captain of Gujarat Titans, and he led them to their maiden IPL title.
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After his impressive performances in IPL 2022, he made a comeback in the national side and is an irreplaceable player in the side now. Due to his excellent performances, Pandya is also the new vice-captain of India in the white-ball formats. Under Pandya’s leadership, the Indian team’s performances have been excellent.
Legendary Australian leg-spinner Shane Warne, who passed away earlier last year was also a fan of Pandya. It was said that Warne has the neck for picking talents, and he was a fan of Ravindra Jadeja as well. Jadeja played under Warne in the inaugural season of the IPL where they won the trophy with Rajasthan Royals.
Shane Warne called Hardik Pandya as one of his top three players
Shane Warne gave an interview with Sports Tak in 2020, where he had a lot of praise for the Indian all-rounder. Warne called Pandya one of his top three players on the planet. At that time, Warne wanted Pandya to play for the Indian Test team as well, he wanted Pandya to play the veterans of the Indian team.
It is known that Warne loved flamboyant players, and Pandya was one of them. He was a fan of the swagger Pandya and insisted that he speaks like a West Indian player.
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“I love him [Hardik Pandya]. I have said weeks ago that he is one of my top three players on the planet. He is awesome and he certainly did what he did in the T20Is and one-dayers. Now everyone is jumping on the bandwagon and saying ‘how good is Hardik Panyda’,” Shane Warne said to Sports Tak.
“He is a bit of a rockstar. He has got that swagger, he is ‘Mr cool’ when he speaks you think he is from the West Indies.”
Pandya has represented India in 11 Tests, where he has scored 532 runs and has scalped 17 wickets with the ball. Due to his fitness issues, it is unlikely that Pandya will play the red-ball format anytime soon as he has already said that playing the white-ball formats is his priority at the moment.
