Let’s look at the team Gujarat Titans carefully.
Wriddhiman Saha – the one who was just sent out of Team India, obviously thrives a comeback.
Shubman Gill – the one whose opening slot will always be in a hunt in the Indian team.
David Miller – the one whose door was closed for the last few IPL seasons.
Rahul Tewatia – the one who has almost done enough to get an Indian call for the finishing role but still hasn’t.
Hardik Pandya – the man with all the ability had to wait for the perfect opportunity to get a permanent slot on the Indian side.
In addition, the cameos of the debutants, Sai Kishore and Sai Sudarshan.
On the whole, it is a team where many players are fighting for their careers. Fighting full-heartedly to be in the big league.
Gujarat Titans, the champions of IPL 2022, have been the talk of the season with the way they approached the games. Statistics show that GT is the only team where all the players have contributed equally to their success.
It involves huge teamwork. This isn’t practically possible without a centre point acting as the guiding force. Undoubtedly the centre point had been the skipper, Hardik Pandya.
The skipper seems too fresh for the IPL culture. With his Caribbean kind of attitude, Hardik has got a good gel among his troop members. He acts cool when things go beyond control and, at the same time, expresses his anger whenever it is required.
Hardik is someone who always makes brave decisions, is confident and clear in his mind about what he is going to do. That is very important as a captain, ki diler ho [that he is fearless].
Rashid Khan
There has been a mix of emotions throughout the tournament from the skipper. Hardik Pandya was left cursing in a league game when Mohammed Shami dropped a sitter. Not only in that incident, but Hardik has also been able to showcase his disappointment over the mistakes of David Miller for a run out against MI and Shubman Gill in the final for avoiding the third run before Hardik gets out. Laughed at Rashid Khan’s struggling throw, which ended up funny. Shouted at himself a certain number of times at his misfields. It had been so easy for Hardik to be himself in the middle. Being himself made him more clear on his thoughts.
From Virat, I will pick his aggression and passion, his tremendous energy, to be honest. From Mahi bhai, I will pick the composure, the calmness, remaining the same in every situation, and trying to see what new things one can add. From Rohit, I would pick that he lets the player decide what he wants to do.
Hardik Pandya said before IPL 2022
Well said, and well done!
Above all, the other factor that fascinates me more is the habit of Hardik expecting a lot from himself. He likes to be the number one contributor for the side. While other captains in this season got lost in balancing their troop members, Hardik treated his self-game with equal importance. He made himself come top of the order (which he longed for before) and took the responsibility on his shoulder.
Hardik has tremendous confidence in his ability. He always wanted to bat higher up the order. He can bat like a No. 4 batter. He reads the game’s situations, he reads the conditions, he knows his role and what is required, and for captaining the side, the added responsibility has done wonders to his batting.
Ravi Shastri.
And the most exciting part is that Hardik has been an all-round performer this season. It was the exact style in which Kapil Dev took his team to win the 1983 world cup. Kapil Dev made his team do well by doing well himself.
Where would have Hardik gotten this clarification of thinking and being subtle?
Maybe the major injury and the time he took to recover from it. A lot of pain and frustration he had gone through had made him a staunch warrior for India.
Eventually, what came out of the wait was priceless for both Indian cricket and Hardik Pandya himself.
The IPL trophy isn’t the only thing Hardik has received but the trust of the whole nation. The trust that his calm and composed approach would take the men in blue to win the ICC trophy one day. Hope it happens this year.
