Asia Cup 2022: Whenever I played with him, I tried to observe – Hardik Pandya on taking lessons from MS Dhoni

Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya revealed that he tried to observe as much as he could when he played with former skipper MS Dhoni. It is well known that Pandya shares a great bonhomie with MS Dhoni and he has always tried to take his lessons from him.

Dhoni is regarded as one of the best finishers to have ever graced the game in the limited-overs format and it goes without saying that Pandya wants to follow in the footsteps of his master.

Pandya has been doing a fine job while finishing the innings for the Indian team. The right-hander scored a fine knock of 33 runs off just 17 balls against Pakistan in the team’s opening game of the Asia Cup 2022 in Dubai on Sunday. Furthermore, Pandya had scalped three wickets and conceded only 25 runs in his quota of four overs.

Pandya revealed he has tried to learn from not only MS Dhoni but also the other players with whom he has played in his career.

“I try to keep it as simple as possible. That’s what I saw in Mahi Bhai. Whenever I played with him, I just observed and asked questions as well. Not only him but whosoever I played with, I tried to learn as much as possible. Even in life, if you want to make a decision and if you are calm and are able to assess the situation better, then you can decide better,” said Pandya while talking to Star Sports.

“I try to implement the same thing in my batting, to analyze the available options and play accordingly. This game [against Pakistan] started for me from the 15th over. I knew the death bowler in on debut, there would be a bit of up and down in his execution. So, even if there is a dot ball, it won’t be a problem because there’s a left-arm spinner and they were already lagging in the over-rate. So, all these factors were in my mind, and I thought of taking it to the end and looking for the better options,” he added.

Hardik Pandya has been ticking the right boxes with both bat and ball and he has definitely grown in confidence since making his return from injury. Pandya will look to continue the same form in the rest of the matches of the Asia Cup.

India will next take on Hong Kong in their second game of the Asia Cup 2022.