“They Don’t Like Being At No. 2”: Hardik Pandya Once Revealed The Secret Behind Greatness of Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma

India captain Rohit Sharma and his predecessors in Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni are three of the biggest cricketers from the country to play the sport of cricket. All-rounder Hardik Pandya once revealed what’s the reason behind the success of all three of them.

Talking to Sports Tak in 2020, Pandya revealed an advice which Kohli gave to him in order to be successful in international cricket. Kohli asked Pandya to be hungry in order to reach greater heights in his career. Pandya said that Kohli advised him to work hard without pulling anyone down in the process.

Pandya’s reputation has grown leaps and bounds in the last year. After getting dropped in 2021, he made his return in the last edition of Indian Premier League where he lifted the title with Gujarat Titans. He is also the vice-captain of the Indian team in the white-ball formats.

Hardik Pandya Once Revealed The Secret Behind Greatness of Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma

Pandya highlighted that all three of these players want to be No. 1 in their respective game. However, even if they don’t reach that position, they don’t lose their mind and thrive harder to reach that milestone. Talking about his learning, Pandya was adamant that he will have to give his best in both batting and bowling in order to become a great all-rounder.

“Now I know how and why Virat [Kohli] is so consistent. Players like Rohit Sharma, MS Dhoni – they don’t like being at No. 2. At the same time, if these players come second, they don’t mind that either,” Pandya told Sports Tak once.

“They want to be No. 1, but their greatness is such that if they come at second place, they have no problems. They will restart the process of hard work to be No. 1.”

Hardik Pandya International Stats Since 2022

Since his comeback in the last IPL, Pandya has been consistent with both bat and the ball. In 11 ODIs since the start of 2022, he has scalped 15 wickets at a brilliant economy of 5.69, whereas his strike-rate has been 24.40. With the bat, he has scored 298 runs at an average of 33.11 including a couple of half-centuries.

Talking about the T20Is, he has scored 718 runs in 31 innings at a strike-rate of 139.15 comprising three half-centuries. He has also scalped 27 wickets at a strike-rate of 18.67.