Hardik Pandya, the skipper for the Ireland T20Is said that he has taken a lot of points from Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni after he was announced as India’s captain for the series while peaking in a press conference ahead of India’s first match against Ireland on Sunday. He also revealed his style of captaincy and how he would go about things.
India will take on Ireland in two T20Is on 26th and 28th June in Dublin. Most of the players who are part of the squad are non-regulars since most of the first team players will be busy in the one-off Test Match against England starting on June 1. This will be the first time that all-rounder Hardik Pandya will be leading the Indian team, after his IPL 2022 -winning stint with the Gujarat Titans.
Hardik Pandya Has Taken A Lot Of Points From MS Dhoni And Virat Kohli But He Wants to Be Natural And Own Self
Speaking in a press conference ahead of India’s first match against Ireland on Sunday, Hardik Pandya said that he has taken a lot of points from former skippers Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni after he was announced as India’s captain for the series. He also revealed his style of captaincy and how he would go about things.
“Obviously, I have taken a lot of things from them (MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli) but mainly, I wanted to be my own self. My understanding of the game is in a different way, for me, I have taken a lot of good points from them but at the same time, I wanted to be natural and kind of, not be instinctive, I see more (the) situation than I can go with my gut.”
” It is about what the team requires in that point of time, what kind of decision I can take at that point, I focus more on that rather than thinking my gut is saying that, I am going to go there. When you go on gut, it is always 50-50, but I do not believe in that, I like to be practical and I like to see the situation,” said the all-rounder.
Captain Hardik Pandya will be in focus as India looks to test their envious bench strength in the series opener against Ireland, who have not beaten India in 3 T20I meetings so far. The focus will also be on Suryakumar Yadav, who returns to the side for the first time after an injury in IPL 2022.
Hardik Pandya Likes To take Responsibilities
Hardik Pandya also gave an insight into his own game and how he now takes more responsibility. Hardik Pandya scored 487 runs in IPL 2022 at an average of 44.27 and a strike rate of 131.27. He also picked eight wickets at an economy rate of 7.28. He was Gujarat Titans’ leading run-getter in their maiden season.
Hardik Pandya was in good form during the five-match series against South Africa also, scoring 117 runs at a strike rate of 153.94, averaging 58.50 in four innings after the 5th T20I was abandoned after only 3.3 overs due to rain.
“Earlier also I liked taking the responsibility. Now also, I like it, perhaps a little more now. I think that I have always done better when I have taken the responsibility. When you take your own decisions, it makes you stronger. I will try the same reflects in my captaincy, how I give confidence to players and how I tell them all to keep fighting,” he added.
With Hardik Pandya hinting at a couple of debuts for India, it will be interesting to see if the likes of Umran Malik, Arshdeep Singh, and Rahul Tripathi get an opportunity to play.