‘Leadership comes naturally to Hardik Pandya’ – says Gary Kirsten

One of the biggest talking points from IPL 2022 has to be surrounding Hardik Pandya and how he executed himself on the pitch while captaining a side for the first time. Eyebrows were raised when the new franchise from Gujarat had made Pandya their captain ahead of the mega auction. However, it’s safe to say that all doubters and critics have been silenced by not only his performances with the bat and ball, but also his leadership skills which helped the team win the title in their debut season.

Pandya also assumed plenty of responsibility this season and promoted himself up the order instead of arriving to finish games. He smacked 487 runs in 15 matches and the way he bonded with his players and got the best out of them drew praises from all quarters. His bowling changes were also quite effective and the Gujarat Titans captain didn’t make the same mistake twice.

The side’s batting coach and mentor Gary Kirsten has heaped plenty of praised on Hardik Pandya and considers him to be a natural leader. Describing him as a cricketer who is curious and wants to keep learning, Kirsten mentioned that he likes getting involved in team conversations and is also eager to know his teammates better.

“I’ve been impressed with Hardik Pandya. Not having known him well earlier, I’ve got a view on him now that he’s this cricketer who just plays instinctively and takes the game on. He engages in a lot of cricket conversations and wants to learn, wants to get better and improve and understand his players,” the 2011 World Cup winning coach told Times of India.

“What stands him apart is how keen he is to learn. He is one of those players. And we’ve seen how leadership has come so naturally to him. He is an impact-player who can win games for you and to have someone that could do it with bat and ball, especially in a format as short and unpredictable as this one, is special,” the South African legend further added.

Besides his calm and collected performances with the bat, Pandya also shone massively with the ball in hand. Heading into the tournament, there were plenty of doubts on whether he could bowl regularly given his recent injury concerns.

Pandya picked up eight wickets during the tournament, saving the best for the biggest stage, when he picked up three wickets for 17 in the IPL 2022 final.