Mumbai: Former India head coach Ravi Shastri was thrilled by the Indian Premier League franchise (IPL) Gujarat Titans skipper Hardik Pandya’s ‘excellent‘ comeback as an all-rounder.
Pandya started his captaincy journey in the IPL on a good note. As his Gujarat Titans edged out KL Rahul’s Lucknow Super Giants at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Monday. Hardik contributed a blistering knock of 33 runs with the bat. But it was his bowling that everyone noticed. Hardik bowled four overs in his first cricket match since the T20 World Cup in October last year.
Speaking after the match, Shastri reckoned that he had his eyes on Pandya during the match, and praised his bowling, saying that while he didn’t get a wicket, those four overs will serve as a confidence booster for him.
“Firstly entire country had their eyes on him, I had my eyes on him to see whether he was going to bowl today or not. And he bowled four overs. He did not get a wicket, but those four overs mattered a lot. It is because his game and the confidence he gained from it will now be doubled,” Shastri said.
The former Indian cricketer further revealed that Hardik’s character, especially with the bat, impressed the former Indian cricketer. The 28-year-old batted at No.4 for the Titans, scoring 33 off 28 laced with five boundaries and a six.
“I feel he showed brilliant character. Especially when it came to batting. He came in at No.4 when two wickets fell and took the entire responsibility on his shoulders and that was a good sign going forward for Gujarat. And he batted brilliantly until he took a bit too much chance against his brother (Krunal). But until then his batting was sound, played excellent strokes and he played risk-free shots. Had he stayed, the game would have been over long back,” he added.
In response to a fan’s question about Hardik’s chances of making it to India’s T20 World Cup squad in 2022, he said, “It will be very easy. If he is fit, no one can stop him, no selector can stop him.”
LSG lost the match by five wickets as Titans all-rounder Rahul Tewatia scored crucial 40 runs off 24 balls in the slog overs to lead his side to victory in their opening game of the tournament.
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