IPL 2022: ‘I Am Very Keen To See How Gujarat Titans Go’: Dinesh Karthik

Dinesh Karthik has backed Hardik Pandya-led Gujarat Titans (GT) as the dark horse to win the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Gujarat, who are one of the two sides newly introduced in the upcoming season of the IPL have tons of talent in their arsenal in the form of Shubman Gill, David Miller, Rashid Khan and many others. According to Karthik, GT will stand a good chance to win the title as they have a good mixture of youth and experience and that is what makes them a deadly combination.

Hardik Pandya, who was not retained by the Mumbai Indians (MI), was one of the three players picked by the GT to be part of their franchise. Alongside, him they brought in the services of Rashid Khan and Shubman Gill while getting players like Lockie Ferguson and Australia’s T20 World Cup hero Matthew Wade in the auctions. Dinesh Karthik believes that GT could go all the way with the team they have and are capable of doing the job.

Karthik believes in Hardik Pandya and his boys for the IPL title

“For me, I am very keen to see how Gujarat Titans go because personally, I feel Hardik Pandya is a very interesting choice as captain. He has all the flamboyance [and] whether he can transfer that into his teammates [remains to be seen]. He’s somebody who’s very confident about his abilities and in many ways, walks the talk. It will be very interesting to see his kind of leadership, the way he takes that team forward,” Dinesh Karthik said while he spoke to Cricbuzz.

Despite, injuries and fitness issues Hardik Pandya has been a hit in the shortest version of the game. He was part of the MI squad that won the IPL on five occasions but with competition for places and fitness woes, he was released by the franchise. Dinesh Karthik, though gas praised him and his character stating that he is a ‘great all-rounder’.

“He’s got all the skills that have been in great all-rounders who’ve done well for their countries… He’s got [a] great attitude, obviously he’s a very flashy batsman, I am very, very sure he’s going to be bowling in this IPL and we all know he’s a terrific fielder so personally, he’s going to be in a good nick. But… he’s the leader of a team now so how he’s able to guide the youngsters is going to be a very interesting watch this season,” Dinesh Karthik further said.

GT start their IPL campaign against fellow newcomers Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on Monday (March 28). The Hardik Pandya-led team would try to make history by becoming just the second team to win the competition in its debut season after Rajasthan Royals (RR) managed to do it in 2008.

Gujarat Titans IPL 2022 full squad

Hardik Pandya, Rashid Khan, Shubman Gill, Mohammed Shami, Jason Roy, Lockie Ferguson, Abhinav Sadarangani, Rahul Tewatia, Noor Ahmed, Sai Kishore, Vijay Shankar, Jayant Yadav, Dominic Drakes, Darshan Nalkande, Yash Dayal, Alzarri Joseph, Pradeep Sangwan, David Miller, Wriddhiman Saha, Matthew Wade, Varun Aaron, B Sai Sudharshan.

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