IPL 2022: Hardik Pandya always wanted to learn as a leader – Gary Kirsten

Gujarat Titans batting mentor Gary Kirsten showered praise on the team’s captain Hardik Pandya after he lead the team to glory in their maiden season of the Tata IPL 2022 by beating Rajasthan Royals by seven wickets at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad on Sunday.

Hardik Pandya always led by example throughout the season and played a key role in getting the best out of his players. Pandya was able to lead from the front and delivered as a batter as well as a bowler.

Pandya returned with impressive figures of 3-17 in the all-important final against Rajasthan Royals. The right-arm pacer went to take crucial wickets of Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson, and Shimron Hetmyer – which constitute the fulcrum of RR’s batting.

Furthermore, Pandya scored an imperative knock of 34 runs off 30 balls in the run-chase of 131 runs and added 63 runs with opening batter Shubman Gill after GT lost two early wickets.

Pandya amassed 487 runs in 15 matches at an impressive average of 44.27 and scored his runs at a strike rate of 131.27 in Tata IPL 2022 and thus played a huge role in the success of his team.

Gary Kirsten said after the final against RR, “Hardik Pandya has been fantastic, I’ve looked working with him. He’s a high-profile player in India but he’s incredibly humble, wanting to learn as a leader and engage with his players which I think is really, really important. He’s tried to help the youngsters, he’s come in and played a different responsibility. You never stop learning as a coach, every IPL is a learning experience, and that’s what I enjoy. I’ve loved working with Ashish, he’s really strong tactically – trying to put a game plan together on the fly is not easy. There are so many variables in each game, but what I’ve enjoyed has been the responsibility players have taken to win games for us.”

On the other hand, Gujarat Titans came up with a collective effort throughout the season and a lot of credit for their success goes to different players, who put their hand up when the opportunity came their way.

Kirsten added, “It’s fantastic, really happy for the guys, they’ve put a lot into the tournament, great for Ashish (Nehra) and Vikram (Solanki) as well. You’re looking for good balance, and good depth in the auction but most importantly you’re looking for players who can do different roles, the one thing we’ve learned with Ashish is finding guys who were versatile, and at 4, 5, and 6 – we’ve got that. “

On different players winning Man of the Match, the South African said, “We all got energy out of it, we’ve had a great bowling attack – through the end we went a bowler strong and a batter light, but we were always confident, just to get a good balance in the team. Sai Kishore came into the team as a left-arm spinner and did really well as well.”