IPL 2022: Hardik Pandya Reveals His Motto For Captaining Gujarat Titans
Published - 17 Mar 2022, 07:10 PM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 01:06 AM
All-rounder Hardik Pandya will have big responsibilities on his hand when the Indian Premier League (IPL 2022) begins as he will be captaining the Gujarat Titans, one of the two new franchises in the tournament, which begins from March 26 onwards and will also feature Lucknow Super Giants as well.
Pandya, along with Rashid Khan and Shubman Gill were picked ahead of the IPL 2022 auction. Hardik, who had made his IPL debut for the Mumbai Indians in IPL 2015, was not retained by the MI franchise before the IPL 15 auction.
This was mainly due to his inability to bowl his quota of overs and loss of form as well with the bat. Hardik Pandya has been in and out of the Indian team due to fitness and back issues, thanks to an injury he suffered to his lower back in the Asia Cup 2018, for which he underwent surgery in London.
But it has kept him from bowling regularly in matches and led to him not playing much cricket since the T20 World Cup 2021 when he bowled a few overs. He asked the BCCI selectors for a break as he wanted to hit peak fitness before making his comeback into the Indian team.
Success Is The Team’s And Failure Is Mine: Hardik Pandya On His Motto For Gujarat Titans In The IPL 2022
While many expected Hardik to be retained by the MI franchise, he will now have the job to captain the GT team in the IPL 2022, something that he hasn’t done before, and all eyes will be on him given that both his leadership and his fitness will be tested in the two-month-long IPL tournament.
During the jersey launch of the franchise, Hardik spoke about how he would like to motivate the youngsters in the team, and how the backseat would be his when it comes to enjoying the success.
“My philosophy for this season is a success is theirs and failure is mine,” said Hardik during the jersey launch event.
The IPL 2022 season will begin on March 26 with Chennai Super Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders locking horns in the tournament opener. Gujarat Titans would open their campaign on March 28 against fellow debutants Lucknow Super Giants.
Gujarat Titans Squad: Rashid Khan, Hardik Pandya (C), Lockie Ferguson, Rahul Tewatia, Shubman Gill, Mohammad Shami, Yash Dayal, David Miller, Sai Kishore, Abhinav Sadarangani, Matthew Wade, Alzarri Joseph, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Wriddhiman Saha, Jayant Yadav, Vijay Shankar, Dominic Drakes, Varun Aaron, Gurkeerat Singh, Noor Ahmad, Darshan Nalkande, Pradeep Sangwan.