Hardik Pandya has his own brand of captaincy despite playing alongside Dhoni, Kohli: Saba Karim
Former Indian wicketkeeper and selector Saba Karim is delighted to see BCCI appoint all-rounder Hardik Pandya as the captain of the Indian team for the upcoming two-match T20I series against Ireland.
Not long ago, Pandya suffered a serious back injury that affected his bowling. He was also unable to clear the boundaries consistently and that led to many questions about his place in the Indian team.
But the 28-year-old answered his critics in style, winning the IPL 2022 title in his maiden season as captain with the Gujarat Titans (GT).
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Speaking on the TOI podcast Sportscast, Karim explained how impressed he was with the way Pandya led the Titans and had his own identity when it came to captaincy: He said:
"Hardik Pandya, although he spent a lot of time with MS Dhoni, spent a lot of time with Virat Kohli, he has his own brand of captaincy and the way he plays his cricket is so different from what Virat does or what MS Dhoni does.
"So you learn from so many great individuals who have been part of the side, but eventually you bring your own leadership style onto the field and I think that's what he did."
Karim believes Pandya applied everything that he had learnt as a player of late while captaining the Titans and that's what helped him in his leadership. He added:
"I think what I have noticed in Hardik Pandya are the learnings that he has absorbed by being an international cricketer over the last 4-5 years. I believe the change we noticed on the field for Gujarat Titans, the change actually started from the captain. And that is why he turned his entire sojourn into such a huge success for Gujarat Titans."
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Hardik Pandya realized he cannot take things for granted: Saba Karim
Saba Karim feels Hardik Pandya's back injury was a turning point in his career. The all-rounder realized he was at his best when he was effective with both bat and ball.
He took time away from the game to work on that facet and results were seen in his performances in the IPL 2022 season. The former wicketkeer-batter stated:
"I do believe that these are all life experiences. He started to value the fact that he is such an exceptional cricketer and that he cannot take things for granted. He realised that eventually he has to take care of his fitness, work on his skill - see to it that he is always ahead of the opposition."
With Rohit Sharma already 35 years of age, Pandya has a great opportunity to impress in Ireland and be in contention for future Indian white-ball captaincy.