MS Dhoni showed a lot of trust in us, lucky and blessed to have played under him: Hardik Pandya

Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya heaped praise on former Indian captain MS Dhoni. Pandya said MS Dhoni showed a lot of trust in the young players and he is lucky and blessed to have played under him. The all-rounder made his debut under MS Dhoni back in 2016 against Australia at Adelaide Oval.

Pandya learned a lot by playing under the captaincy of MS Dhoni, who is well known to get the best out of the young players. In fact, before the start of IPL, Hardik Pandya said he wants to emulate MS Dhoni as a leader. Pandya was able to lead the team from the front and led Gujarat Titans to their glory in their maiden season of the tournament.

In fact, Pandya didn’t have the best of starts as he was taken for 21 runs in the first over he bowled. However, he was still backed by MS Dhoni and he finished with figures of 2-37 in his three overs.

“When I joined the Indian team, I saw guys whom I had seen growing up Suresh Raina, Harbhajan Singh, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Ashish Nehra. Even before I played for India, they were the stars. For me, when I went there it was a big thing,” Hardik told SGTV podcast.

“So obviously the kind of debut I had I think I am the first cricketer who had gone for 21 runs in his first over I genuinely felt that ok, this might be my last over. But I was very blessed and lucky to play under Mahi bhai who showed lot of trust in us which has helped us reach where we did.”

Pandya recalled MS Dhoni told him that he would be part of the World Cup squad when he played his third T20I.

“Just after the third game of my international career, Mahi bhai told me you will be the World Cup team. So for me, to play World Cup or to get to know that in the third game I just got to know about this. I did not even bat in that game but he assured me that you have expressed yourself. Yeah, it was just a dream come true,” Pandya said.

Pandya will be in action in the T20I series against South Africa, which will begin on June 9, at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi.