"Story that will encourage a lot of others" - Sunil Gavaskar on Hardik Pandya and Krunal Pandya's inspiring performances after their father's demise
Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar reserved high praise for Hardik Pandya and Krunal Pandya for their recent impressive performances. He pointed out how the two brothers continued to play cricket despite losing their father last year.
Speaking on Star Sports earlier today (June 19), Gavaskar stated that both Hardik Pandya and Krunal Pandya were very close to their late father, Himanshu Pandya. He believes that the way they have both overcome the setback will encourage many players.
"This is a fantastic story. For both the brothers, losing their father about a year ago was a big blow. We saw with Father's Day pictures how close they were to their father and how their father had helped them grow as cricketers. To be able to come out of that and play the way both brothers have is a story that will encourage a lot of others."
Himanshu Pandya passed away last year in Vadodara due to cardiac arrest. He played a big role in the cricketing careers of his two sons.
Playing for the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), Krunal impressed many with his all-round performances in the recently concluded Indian Premier League (IPL 2022). Hardik, on the other hand, led the Gujarat Titans (GT) to title win in the franchise's inaugural season.
"He's now tempered his talent with that little bit of responsibility" - Sunil Gavaskar on Hardik Pandya
Sunil Gavaskar also highlighted the fact that Hardik Pandya has matured as a cricketer. He explained that the right-hander was able to play free-flowing cricket early in his career due to the presence of several star players in the team.
The Indian batting legend explained that the talismanic all-rounder has become more responsible after his captaincy stint in the IPL where he led his side from the front. Notably, with 487 runs from 15 games, he was the leading run-scorer for GT in IPL 2022.
"What one has seen is the maturity that has come in Hardik Pandya's batting and his cricket. He's now tempered his talent with that little bit of responsibility. Earlier on, when you're playing in a team full of superstars, it was easy for him to go and play his game as the others would make up if he failed. Now he realises, as captain, that he needs to take the responsibility and show the team how it should be done."
India Squad
Hardik Pandya (C), Bhuvneshwar Kumar (vc), Ishan Kishan, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sanju Samson, Suryakumar Yadav, Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Hooda, Rahul Tripathi, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, R Bishnoi, Harshal Patel, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik
Hardik has been appointed as the captain for India's upcoming two-match T20I series against Ireland. The series opener is scheduled to be played on June 26 in Dublin.