All-rounder Hardik Pandya and former India pacer Ashish Nehra teamed up as captain and head coach for the first time last season when they join debutants Gujarat Titans. Pandya and Nehra instantly gelled together and the bonding led them to the Indian Premier League (IPL) in their first season.
Now, Pandya and Nehra have the envious task of the defending the IPL crown as they get ready to take on four-time champions Chennai Super Kings in the first match of IPL 2023 season at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Friday (March 31). JioCinema’s IPL experts discussed the mercurial all-rounder and his team’s prospects, in an episode of ‘Insiders Preview – Hardik Pandya’.
JioCinema expert Anil Kumble remarked on Pandya’s incredible abilities as an all-rounder on the pitch, as well as a captain and said, “For a fast bowler to be bowling at that pace and then coming in and batting in whichever situation, we have seen that with Mumbai Indians, he did the finisher's role but last year we saw a different Hardik Pandya, the captain play a different role for Gujarat. In that sense, he's the complete package you'd expect from a player.”
Mumbai Indians Director of Cricket Zaheer Khan showered Pandya with praise for the versatility. “If you talk about an impact player, Hardik is the ideal impact player. In the situation where he bats, at number five or six, it is not easy, especially in this format where you have to use the last three or four overs to bat at a particular strike rate, while facing ten to twelve deliveries. That’s his specialty. His hand speed is exceptional and for a batter to have that hand speed and catch the ball, very few players can actually do that. Even when bowling, he can bowl at any phase, he is an all-phase bowler which is an asset,” Zaheer said.
Our skipper with his family of Titans return to make their way into the hearts of the #TitansFAM, once again__#AavaDe #GTvCSK #TATAIPL pic.twitter.com/M04cwL6x3P
— Gujarat Titans (@gujarat_titans) March 31, 2023
Pandya stepped into the new stage of his career as a captain for the Gujarat Titans last season. Zaheer Khan hailed Pandya’s ability to be an intelligent captain that takes advice from the experience around him, as seen in his relationship with head coach Ashish Nehra. "If you look at the previous IPL, what we saw was that Hardik had never captained before. That was an advantage for Ashish Nehra as well because when you haven't been a captain before, you want to learn the most about it. That’s why Nehra and Pandya’s partnership emerged as the Jodi No. 1 last season,” said Zaheer.
Ahead of the opening match on Friday, where Pandya’s Gujarat Titans will go up against MS Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings, Anil Kumble observed the crucial facets of captaincy that Pandya has imbibed from Dhoni. “He reads the game really well, just like MS Dhoni. You can see that in the way he bats and bowls, and also manages his bowling resources,” said Kumble.
