Former Indian batter Mohammad Kaif rated Hardik Pandya 100/100 as a captain for his fine leadership in the ongoing season of the Tata Indian Premier League 2022.
Pandya has been able to get the best out of his players and have led from the front.
The all-rounder has won nine games out of the 13 matches in which he has led the team. GT finished the league stage at the top of the points table with 10 wins from 14 matches (Rashid Khan had led the team in one game, which GT won).
Furthermore, Hardik Pandya has scored 413 runs in 13 matches at an average of 41.30 and a strike rate of 131.52. Pandya has played an anchor’s role in the middle-overs, which is against his naturally aggressive style of batting.
Pandya has been spot on with his strategies as a leader and has led GT with aplomb. The results have been palpable on the field and Pandya will look to continue the good show in the playoff stages.
While speaking to Sportskeeda, Kaif said, “I would give Hardik Pandya 100/100 as a captain. He has been excellent as a leader. He stands at mid-off and keeps interacting with bowlers. The bowlers are always under pressure and, when the captain is standing next to them, they can interact with him after every ball. There has been no lapse in coordination between bowler and captain.”
In fact, Kaif admitted that there weren’t huge expectations from Gujarat Titans as they had confusing strategies in the mega-auction. However, GT has been able to surprise one and all with their consistent performances, especially with the bat.
“The management of GT has worked well with the players. On paper, they did not look like a strong team. After the auction, many people did not rate them highly. Hardik Pandya was new as captain. They even picked up their wicket-keepers, Matthew Wade and Wriddhiman Saha, very late in the auction. A lot of people were wondering what they were doing. Their strategy was confusing.”
GT will look to bring their best in the playoffs stages and come up with a collective effort. Gujarat Titans will face Rajasthan Royals at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata on Tuesday in the first Qualifier of Tata IPL 2022.
