"Wouldn't Think Past Hardik Pandya" - Michael Vaughan reckons that Hardik Pandya is a potential future Indian captain
On Sunday, Gujarat Titans locked horns with Rajasthan Royals at Narendra Modi Stadium for the IPL title. And it was the home team that came out victorious under the leadership of Hardik Pandya. GT won the IPL title in their debut season and emerged as only the second team to do that.
The heroic all-rounder performance from the GT skipper saw the team win against RR by seven wickets. He took three important wickets and conceded only 17 runs in his four overs. Then, coming on to bat, he played a very important innings of 34 runs to take Gujarat out of misery.
His leadership skills have certainly earned praise from all around the world. Many cricketers and ex-cricketers have lauded the 12-year-old for his captaincy skills. There was no doubt about his ability with both the bat and ball. But now, he has also gained praise for his leadership.
Gujarat also finished at the top of the league table and won their first qualifier to come into the finals. Hardik has used the potential of all the players to maximum effect, and that has certainly helped the team. Former English skipper Michael Vaughan has also been impressed with the captaincy of Hardik and has rated him as the next skipper for Indian cricket.
Fantastic achievement for a new franchise … If India need a captain in a couple of years I wouldn’t look past @hardikpandya7 … Well done Gujurat .. #IPL2022
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) May 29, 2022
Rohit Sharma is the all-former captain of the Men in Blue. But the management is searching for some other options after him. And after winning the IPL championship in his debut season, Hardik has certainly announced his name as well for that role.
The GT head coach, Ashish Nehra, has also heaped praise on the skipper and has said that "under the leadership of Hardik Pandya" all the boys gelled well. " He also said that it is not easy for a team to win the championship in their very first season.
In the post-match presentation, Nehra said, "The way we qualified. It was so very heartening to see. The first year is not easy, and all the boys did really well and gelled very well under Hardik’s leadership."