Gujarat Titans batting coach and mentor Gary Kirsten was left immensely impressed by Hardik Pandya’s captaincy and leadership skills in the franchise’s maiden IPL campaign. Pandya led the team from the front and contributed towards both the batting and the bowling departments. The all-rounder also led his team to glory in the final of IPL 2022 with a seven-wicket win over Rajasthan Royals where he also won the Man of the Match award.
In all honesty, Hardik Pandya emerged as a surprising captaincy candidate when it was announced that new IPL entrants Gujarat Titans have not only made him their marquee player, but have also appointed him as the leader of the side. In the years before, Pandya had belonged to the leadership group within Mumbai Indians but doubts remained on whether he could pull off the task alone.
There were also concerns that his off-field demeanour could lead to disharmony inside the dressing room. The 28-year-old silenced all his critics and doubters by becoming the fourth Indian player to lead an IPL franchise to the title.
Gary Kirsten, who was the head coach when India had won the 2011 World Cup on home soil, claimed that it was a delight to work with Pandya over the two months during IPL 2022.
“His captaincy was beautiful to watch and a real lesson to many other captains. He never chased the spotlight and the profile that comes with captaincy. He remained Hardik Pandya the person – easy to talk to, always asking questions about how he can improve, always humble about his own performance, always a calm energy on the field and always a little quirky off the field,” he told Cricbuzz.
Gujarat Titans suffered only four defeats throughout the season and were the only team to hit the mark of 20 points in the league, finishing on top of the table. They defeated Rajasthan Royals twice in Qualifier 1 and the final to win the trophy and Pandya’s leadership was a major reason behind their triumph.
The 28-year-old also tried to reinvent his own role and pushed himself up to the number 4 spot as a batter. Prior to that, he was usually deployed as a lower-middle order batter in order to try and finish games for Mumbai Indians.
Hardik Pandya was also awarded the Man of the Match in the final of the competition. He stunned Rajasthan with his bowling and picked up the important wickets of Jos Buttler, Shimron Hetmyer, and Sanju Samson while keeping an economy rate of 4.25. Pandya then added 34 runs to set his team on course for the win.
