Hardik Pandya Or KL Rahul? Ravi Shastri Reveals His Pick For The Better Captain Between The Two Stars
May 10, 2022 at 10:58 AM
Hardik Pandya’s captaincy in the ongoing season of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2022) might have taken many by surprise but former India allrounder and coach Ravi Shastri is not one of them. Pandya is leading an IPL team for the first time in his career and has done exceedingly well as the captain of Gujarat Titans. The star allrounder has led his team to 8 wins from 11 games. Gujarat are currently at the second spot in the points table.
Pandya would now be hoping that his team manages to finish in the top two which will give them two shots at the final. Pandya and his teammates will be in action again on Tuesday (May 10) when they lock horns against table-toppers Lucknow Super Giants. Just like Pandya, Lucknow captain KL Rahul has also impressed many with his leadership. But when it comes to pick one between Pandya and Rahul as the better captain, Shastri has picked the former.
Speaking on ESPN Cricinfo’s Timeout, Ravi Shastri stated that he picked Pandya over Rahul because the allrounder was leading a team for the first time. Shastri, who has seen the rise of Pandya from close quarters, further said that the fast-bowling allrouner has an excellent understanding of the sport.
“Definitely Hardik Pandya because he hadn’t done it before. But everyone knew his reading and understanding of the game is strong. KL Rahul had already led India in One-day cricket; hence, there were expectations he would do a decent job. Hardik might have surprised a lot of people, but he didn’t surprise me because I know his mindset and his understanding of white-ball cricket, especially, it’s very good,” said Ravi Shastri.
“I would say right from the start and that’s why he has been fast-tracked. If we see, he didn’t take much time to settle into the Indian team. Hardik showed it straightaway that he belongs at the top level, which is commendable,” he added.
Hardik Pandya’s performance:
Hardik Pandya has led his team from the very front. He has performer well with both bat and ball to lead his team’s charge. The hard-hitting allrounder has scored an impressive 333 runs in 10 games so far at an average of 41.62 with three half-centuries. With the ball, he has taken nine wickets at 20.66, keeping an economy rate of 6.64. On the other hand, Rahul is the second highest run-scorer of IPL 2022. In 11 games so far, he has scored 451 runs at an average of more than 50.