"Maybe it was the combo pack of him and Ashish Nehra" - Aakash Chopra on Hardik Pandya's contrasting captaincy for Gujarat Titans and India
Aakash Chopra reckons Hardik Pandya's combination with Ashish Nehra could be one of the reasons why the Gujarat Titans skipper seems to lead his franchise better than how he leads India.
Hardik led the Titans to the Indian Premier League (IPL) title last year and the finals this season. He made a decent start to his stint as the Men in Blue's T20I captain but has drawn a lot of criticism for his leadership in the recent series loss to the West Indies.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra opined that Ashish Nehra's presence as head coach could be a factor in Hardik Pandya's success as the Titans' skipper. He stated:
"He could be the Indian team's captain in the 2024 T20 World Cup. In captaincy, at the moment it seems like he is a work in progress. He has won the Gujarat Titans the title once and took them to the final once."
The former Indian opener added:
"He has captained in only two seasons and captained amazingly well in both years. When he captains that side, there is a clear pattern. It's all almost predictable. You got surprised one or two times but other than that, you couldn't have found a mistake in his captaincy. Maybe it was the combo pack of him and Ashish Nehra."
Chopra feels Hardik might alternatively be more comfortable with the composition of the Gujarat Titans' side. He pointed out that the franchise possesses match-winning bowlers and that he used them very well in familiar conditions.
"There is no template or pattern" - Aakash Chopra on Hardik Pandya as India captain
![Hardik Pandya has taken some puzzling decisions on the field. [P/C: Twitter]](https://statico.sportskeeda.com/editor/2023/08/bafc7-16921622381912-1920.jpg?w=500)
Aakash Chopra highlighted that Hardik Pandya has had a contrasting approach while leading India. He observed:
"However, when he is captaining the Indian team, there is a lot of up and down. There is no template or pattern, which is alright as you can surprise the opposition team. It's okay if your own team is getting benefitted because of that but what if your team's players are unable to get prepared?"
The cricketer-turned-commentator pointed out that Hardik didn't use his bowling resources effectively against the Windies. He explained:
"Yuzi (Yuzvendra) Chahal becomes half the bowler while bowling in the powerplay. You don't come to know whether Axar Patel is a bowler or batter, or what he is doing. Mukesh Kumar bowls only at the death. You bowl at times with the new ball and don't do that on other occasions. It just leads to a bit more confusion is what I feel."
Chopra concluded by highlighting that India don't have many matches to play before next year's T20 World Cup. Assuming that Hardik might be the skipper, he added that a lot of work and not just fine-tuning needs to be done.