IPL 2022: He's Performing Well In All Departments- Matthew Hayden Praises GT Captain Hardik Pandya

Hardik Pandya has captained Gujarat Titans (GT) well as they became the first team to qualify for the playoffs in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL 2022) season. Pandya was drafted by the GT side ahead of the IPL 2022 auction, as he was not retained by Mumbai Indians (MI), as a franchise he was with from 2015 onwards.

There were speculations about Pandya’s captaincy abilities given that he had not led a team at any level in professional cricket. However, he turned out to be the best captain in a lot of new names in the ongoing IPL 2022 and as a result, his team has a spot secured in the final four.

The GT team dished out a fine performance against fellow newcomers Lucknow Super Giants on Tuesday evening, beating them by 62 runs in a low-scoring affair and making it into the IPL 2022 final four and for this, former Australia opener Matthew Hayden gave rich praise to Hardik Pandya.

I Love His Energy And The Enthusiasm: Matthew Hayden On Hardik Pandya

Matthew Hayden was all praises for Hardik Pandya and said that he loved the energy and enthusiasm he brings to the team. Pandya has also shown great composure with the bat, having accumulated 344 runs from 11 outings, and is currently the second-highest run-scorer from the Gujarat camp.

The way Hardik has marshaled his unit has left many ex-cricketers in awe. Hailing the all-rounder for showing all the qualities of a good leader, Matthew Hayden said:

“Good cricketers, good leaders in particular keep their best for the best of times and that’s Hardik Pandya (for you) right now. He’s performing well in all departments. I love his energy and the enthusiasm that he brings to the table.”

Pandya has also shown an inclination to bowling his full quota of four overs and returned to bowling against LSG after suffering from a groin injury before. He has already notched three half-centuries in the season, and the franchise will hope the skipper to carry forward the good run as the tournament nears the playoffs.

Also Read: IPL 2022: Hardik Pandya Is Doing Exceedingly Well, Getting Better With Every Game – Sunil Gavaskar