IPL 2022: Hardik Pandya Can Bat At 4 For India: Irfan Pathan
IPL 2022: Hardik Pandya did not play any form of cricket after the T20 World Cup last year. He only returned to professional cricket through the IPL. Since his comeback, he has been in terrific batting form. That has prompted former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan to say that Hardik Pandya is best suited to bat at number 4 for Gujarat Titans and the Indian cricket team.
Hardik Pandya has mostly batted at 4 for Gujarat Titans and taken more responsibility as the skipper of the side. He is amongst the highest run-scorers in the tournament so far.
Hardik Pandya Has Learnt A Lot From MS Dhoni: Aakash Chopra
Former India opener Aakash Chopra has also echoed the same thoughts as Irfan Pathan as he too believes that Hardik Pandya has started taking more responsibility with the new leadership role he has been given.
“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.
“You don’t get to take too many chances after wickets fall early but Hardik played didn’t shy away from playing big strokes early in his innings for GT if he got the looseness from the bowlers.
“Whether it is Team India or Gujarat Titans, Hardik is the most suited batsman at number four. This is because he can take the responsibility,” said Irfan Pathan talking on Cricket Live on Star Sports.
While Aakash Chopra said, “I think Hardik obviously treats him (MS Dhoni) as his mentor, he’s very close to MS. With 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. He’s learnt the right lessons from MS.
“These are the things that we don’t even have to be told, we just observe. When we are in the company of greatness, we try and take little pieces and it shapes our lives. And that’s what we are seeing with Hardik.”
Gujarat Titans is one of the new teams in the IPL but they are leading the points table at this stage in the tournament.
Also Read: IPL 2022: Tom Moody Attributes Role Clarity For SRH’s Recent Success
