Hardik Pandya burst onto the Indian cricket scene after impactful performances for Mumbai Indians, as a teen in 2015. Pandya is a multi-time IPL champion having received 4 titles with Mumbai after which went on to guide the Gujarat Titans to their maiden title of their debut season final yr. The expectation to proceed delivering will likely be excessive because the 29-year-old all-rounder takes the sector because the defending champions. IPL consultants mentioned the mercurial all-rounder and his staff’s prospects, in an episode of Insiders Preview — Hardik Pandya on JioCinema.

Anil Kumble remarked on Pandya’s unimaginable talents as an all-rounder on the pitch, in addition to a captain and stated, “For a quick bowler to be bowling at that tempo after which coming in and batting in whichever state of affairs, we have now seen that with Mumbai Indians, he did the finisher’s position however final yr we noticed a distinct Hardik Pandya, the captain play a distinct position for Gujarat. In that sense, he is the whole package deal you’d count on from a participant.”

Zaheer Khan, a cricket professional, showered Pandya with reward for his versatility. “Should you speak about an affect participant, Hardik is the best affect participant. Within the state of affairs the place he bats, at quantity 5 or 6, it isn’t simple, particularly on this format the place you need to use the final three or 4 overs to bat at a selected strike price whereas going through ten to 12 deliveries. That is his speciality. His hand pace is phenomenal and for a batter to have that hand pace and catch the ball, only a few gamers can truly try this. Even when bowling, he can bowl at any part, he’s an all-phase bowler which is an asset.”

Pandya stepped into the brand new stage of his profession as a captain for the Gujarat Titans final season. Zaheer Khan hailed Pandya’s means to be an clever captain that takes recommendation from the expertise round him, as seen in his relationship with head coach Ashish Nehra. “Should you take a look at the earlier IPL, what we noticed was that Hardik had by no means captained earlier than. That was a bonus for Ashish Nehra as nicely as a result of when you have not been a captain earlier than, you wish to study essentially the most about it. That is why Nehra and Pandya’s partnership emerged because the Jodi No. 1 final season,” stated Khan.

Anil Kumble noticed the essential sides of captaincy that Pandya has imbibed from Dhoni. “He reads the sport rather well, identical to M.S. Dhoni. You possibly can see that in the way in which he bats and bowls, and in addition manages his bowling assets,” stated Kumble.