Gujarat Titans (GT), on Sunday, defeated Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the summit clash of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 by seven wickets to win the to win the prestigious trophy in their maiden season.
Skipper Hardik Pandya led from the front as he came up with an all-round performance to help his side register the victory. Pandya lit up the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, taking three wickets in the game and scoring 34 runs.
In fact, Hardik had a tremendous season with the bat for Gujarat. He finished with 487 runs – the fourth highest run-getter in the fifteenth edition of the cash-rich league. Hardik also bagged eight wickets for his side.
After such a tremendous performance, no wonder Hardik has been receiving praise from all corners. Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar also lavished praise on the 28-year-old, stating Team India’s selection committee would be delighted, considering the upcoming T20 World Cup 2022, scheduled to take place in Australia later this year.
Gavaskar reckoned that Hardik batted quite sensibly as he was not seen throwing his bat at every ball. The former India captain felt Hardik’s batting improved when he was offered to lead an IPL franchise, just like Rohit Sharma when he was appointed Mumba Indians (MI) captain.
“The selection committee would be delighted. The leading group would be delighted with the way he has come through because everyone had seen him batting, but they had not seen him bowl. He has been coming and bowling three overs on the trot, and four overs on the trot, which shows he is 100 per cent fit. Yes, he has to be managed well, no question. When you have had a back injury as serious as that, when you have had surgery, you have to be managed. He was bowling today in the mid 140s, which means he was really letting it rip,” said Gavaskar on Star Sports after IPL 2022 final.
“Also, the shot selection he showed as a batsman, he was not throwing his bat at everything. The shot selection was absolutely terrific. Yes, in this game, you will get out looking for a six but generally, the captaincy just like it did with Rohit Sharma, the shot selection became better. Rohit Sharma was also like Hardik Pandya, brilliant absolutely. The moment he got the captaincy, he started scoring 70-80-100s as well,” he added.
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