T20 World Cup 2022: I won’t be surprised if he is the next Indian captain – Waqar Younis on Hardik Pandya

Former Pakistan legendary fast bowler Waqar Younis has opined that he won’t surprised if Hardik Pandya takes over the captaincy reins of the Indian team after Rohit Sharma. Pandya is known to be a leader within the group and always believes in sharing his input.

The all-rounder had a fantastic match against Pakistan at the MCG in the ongoing T20 World Cup on Sunday after India won by four wickets. Pandya returned with three wickets and conceded only 30 runs in the four overs he bowled. The right-arm pacer was able to make the most of the helpful conditions and bowled in the right areas to reap his rewards.

Furthermore, Pandya scored a crucial knock of 40 runs off just 37 balls and added a fine alliance of 113 runs off just 78 balls with Virat Kohli to keep India in the contest.

On the other hand, Hardik Pandya had led from the front in the IPL as he had played an instrumental role in taking Gujarat Titans to glory. Pandya had scored 487 runs in 16 matches for the Gujarat franchise as he did a fine job for the team. Since then he has been delivering for the national team.

“Hardik Pandya ko agar aap dekhe, pehli dafa usne shayad captaincy ki hai, IPL main, and the way he led the team. Unhone IPL jeeti hai. Usse andaza hota hai ki how he handled the pressure. Especially uska bhi jo role hai team main as a finisher. And finisher aap team main tabhi ho sakte hai jab aap mentally strong ho and ek self belief ho. And woh read kar rahe the ki kis tarike se le ke jaa sakte hai,” Misbah-ul-Haq said on A Sports.

(If you see Hardik Pandya, this was the first time he led in the IPL and the way he led was great. He won the IPL. It gives an indication that he can handle the pressure. He plays his finisher role with great success and you can only be the finisher if you are mentally strong. Pandya is also reading the match-situations.)

Waqar quickly interrupted saying, “I won’t be surprised if he is the next Indian captain.”

Furthermore, former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram was all praise on Hardik Pandya for his consistent performances.

Akram then jumped in hailing the India all-rounder. “Pehle woh IPL main captain bana, waha jeeta. Abhi woh team main ek main force hai, woh captain ko advice deta hai, ek calm influence hai, and he is learning. Ekdum se agar deep end main daal do toh usko samjh hi nehi ayegi,” he said.

(First he became IPL captain, he won that. He is a force in the team, he gives advice to captain, he has a calm influence and he is learning. If you put him into deep end, he will not understand the situation).

India will be up against the Netherlands on Thursday at the SCG.