IPL 2022 Final: "Hardik Pandya Has Been Incredibly Humble And Eager To Learn" - Gary Kirsten
Gujarat Titans (GT) batting coach and mentor, Gary Kirsten, was over the moon following the franchise’s victory over Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the grand final of the IPL 2022 season.
Gujarat, playing in its first season after being added to the league, restricted RR to 130/9 in 20 overs before the batters put on another chase masterclass with Hardik Pandya leading the way.
Speaking about the incredible run made by GT, which saw them finish on top of the points table and win the Qualifier 1 before securing the final, Kirsten credited the entire team.
“Hardik has been incredibly humble and eager to learn. He batted beautifully, taking responsibility which is different from what we have seen of him in the IPL. T20 is a very tactical game.”
“I loved working with Ashish, he is tactically very good. It’s an incredible winning in your first season in front of 100,000 people,” Kirsten was quoted as saying in the post-match interviews.
“We had a strong bowling attack throughout the tournament” – Gary Kirsten
Kirsten went on to mention that they had a good auction plan and ended up with players who can play multi-dimensional cricket. Coupled with a great leader in Hardik Pandya, GT won 12 of their 16 games in total to seal their maiden title.
“Really chuffed. You are looking for balance, depth at the auction but the most important is you need guys who are versatile. We had a strong bowling attack throughout the tournament and towards the end we even went a bowler extra and a batter light,” he further mentioned.