New Delhi: Indian cricket team's new game-changer Hardik Pandya is developing into a better player with each match he is playing for the Men in Blue.
While speaking to BCCI.TV, Pandya, who tonked 31 runs off just 18 balls against Bangladesh in Asia Cup opener, said he wants to learn from MS Dhoni and AB de Villiers on how to be consistent while sending the ball out of the ropes.
"I have never had a role model when it comes to hitting sixes but I just look at great players like our captain MS Dhoni and AB de Villiers and other big hitters in the world. I would want to get the consistency that these two players have," he said.
The 22-year-old said that hitting sixes has always gave him joy and it is his natural instinct to smack the ball hard.
"I don't really know how and where I got my big hitting capabilities from. But, right from my childhood days, it was a habit for me to hit big sixes. I always had this urge to send the ball out of the boundary be it any tournament.
"Even when I was 16 or 17 and finding my way into competitive cricket, hitting sixes was something that I always wanted to do. Even at that age, I would back myself and follow my instincts. If I would feel that I have to hit the first ball for a six, I would go for it. That is the way I have played and that is the way I play even now. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't, but that is the way it goes."
After Pandya's all-round show against Bangladesh, Dhoni was full of praise for the youngster where he especially hailed his fearless batting approach.
