Sunil Gavaskar, the former India captain reserved high praise for brothers Hardik Pandya and Krunal Pandya for their recent impressive performances. He pointed out how the two brothers continued to play cricket despite losing their father last year.
Sunil Gavaskar stated that both Hardik Pandya and Krunal Pandya were very close to their late father, Himanshu Pandya. He believes that the way they have both overcome the setback will encourage many players.
Sunil Gavaskar Praised Brothers Hardik Pandya And Krunal Panda For Playing Well Despite Losing Their Father
Himanshu Pandya passed away last year in Vadodara due to cardiac arrest. He played a big role in the cricketing careers of his two sons.
“This is a fantastic story. For both the brothers, losing their father about a year ago was a big blow. We saw with Father’s Day pictures how close they were to their father and how their father had helped them grow as cricketers. To be able to come out of that and play the way both brothers have is a story that will encourage a lot of others.”
Playing for the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), Krunal Pandya impressed many with his all-round performances in the recently concluded Indian Premier League (IPL 2022). Hardik Pandya, on the other hand, led the Gujarat Titans (GT) to a title win in the franchise’s inaugural season.
Krunal Pandya was bought by Lucknow Super Giants- LSG for INR 8.25 Crore in IPL 2022 mega auctions and he scored 183 runs averaging 20.33 in 14 IPL 2022 games besides picking up 10 scalps averaging 26.5 with a best of 3/19. His economic rate was 6.97.
Sunil Gavaskar: Hardik Pandya Has Matured Which Is Evident In His Batting
Sunil Gavaskar also highlighted the fact that Hardik Pandya has matured as a cricketer. He explained that the right-hander was able to play free-flowing cricket early in his career due to the presence of several star players on the team. 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.
The Indian batting legend explained that the talismanic all-rounder has become more responsible after his captaincy stint in the IPL where he led his side from the front. Notably, with 487 runs from 15 games, he was the leading run-scorer for GT in IPL 2022.
“What one has seen is the maturity that has come in Hardik Pandya’s batting and his cricket. He’s now tempered his talent with that little bit of responsibility. Earlier on, when you’re playing in a team full of superstars, it was easy for him to go and play his game as the others would make up if he failed. Now he realises, as captain, that he needs to take the responsibility and show the team how it should be done.”
Hardik Pandya has been appointed as the captain for India’s upcoming two-match T20I series against Ireland. The series opener is scheduled to be played on June 26 in Dublin. Hardik Pandya has been in good form during the ongoing five-match series against South Africa 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.