Hardik Pandya Ditches MS Dhoni, Hails Ex-India Star For Making ‘Big Difference In My Life’© Provided by MensXP
Story by Prakash Rai • Yesterday 11:44 am
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From being on the sidelines with an injury to leading the Indian team, Hardik Pandya has come a long way in the last 12 months.
When he was first handed the captaincy of Gujarat Titans, many thought the move would backfire because he had never led a side before.
But the all-rounder proved all his doubters wrong by guiding the Ahmedabad-based outfit to the IPL trophy in their inaugural season.
One good thing led to another and the Baroda allrounder became the India captain. He has captained the Men in Blue in eight matches spread across three different series, two away and one at home, and won six of them.
His only defeat as captain came during the just-concluded home T20I series against Sri Lanka where India lost the second T20I. The hosts bounced back to clinch the three-match series 2-1 as Hardik retained his record of winning all three series while leading the Indian team.
Hardik Pandya is very close to former Indian captain MS Dhoni. Due to his special relationship with the legendary leader, many believe his captaincy is inspired by him.
After the Sri Lanka series, Hardik acknowledged that he was a novice when it came to captaincy and revealed the name of the person who made a “big difference in my life”. And surprisingly, it wasn’t Dhoni.
The star allrounder said he already had the awareness of the game, all he needed was someone to give him the assurance and back his thought process. Hardik credited Gujarat Titans head coach Ashish Nehra for backing him to the tilt and adding more value to his captaincy.
“I have never led in junior cricket as well. When I was U16, I had led for Baroda but after that everyone said I should concentrate on my own game and so since then I had not really led a team,” Pandya told reporters after the game.
“What has been very important was the kind of coach I worked with at Gujarat Titans. Ashish Nehra made a big difference in my life – we are very similar in terms of cricketing thoughts.
“We might be two different personalities but when it comes to cricket we are very similar. Because I was with him, it added more value to my captaincy. It helped me to get exactly what I know. It was just about getting assurance, I always knew that I have a certain awareness of the game. It was just about kind of backing what I know already,” he added.
Much like Hardik Pandya, Ashish Nehra also didn’t have prior experience of coaching any team. He had a few stints as an assistant coach but never as a head coach.
Hardik and Nehra both were new to their job and they complimented each other in the best possible manner.
Source: MSN