Follow UsBeing made the captain of Gujarat Lions has helped Hardik Pandya take his game up by a notch, according to Sunil Gavaskar. The allrounder has been on the fringes of the Indian national team following a lower-back injury has stayed away from bowling for a long time.
In the ongoing IPL 2022, the Baroda allrounder has led Gujarat Titans from the front with his batting performances as he amassed 295 runs from six matches at an average of 73.75 and claimed four wickets. Gavaskar felt that Hardik is fulfilling his leadership role quite well.
"He didn't play a lot of cricket before the IPL because he was trying to get fully fit with all the problems he had due to the injury," Gavaskar told 'Star Sports'.
"(Now) Look at the discipline he's showing in his batting. He's batting well in the powerplay and making full use of the field restrictions, he's doing exceedingly well in the field.
"So basically, that thinking cap is on; and once that happens your game just goes up," added Gavaskar.
Former Indian opener Aakash Chopra felt that Hardik has been channelizing his mentor MS Dhoni who had been pivotal for India's growth in the limited-overs format as a finisher.
"I think Hardik obviously treats him (MS Dhoni) as his mentor, he's very close to MS. The number at which he bats and the role that he plays, nobody has played it better than Dhoni in the history of white-ball cricket," Chopra said.
Former Indian pacer Irfan Pathan felt the No.4 slot has brought out a new version of Hardik as his innings of 33, 31, 27, 50 not out, 87 not out and 67 helped Gujarat stay at the top of the table.
"This is a new Hardik Pandya. This is a better version of him. It was nice to see the situations in which he has played this season. The good thing about Hardik is that he is batting responsibly at No. 4," Pathan said.