Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra praised the all-round skills of Hardik Pandya in the final of IPL 2022 against Rajasthan Royals (RR). Hardik Pandya played a crucial role in helping Gujarat Titans win the final by seven wickets at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. The mega final was attended by more than 1 Lakh people.
The Titans were heavily dependent on captain Hardik Pandya in the final. The ace all-rounder delivered clutch performances with both bat and ball in the final. While bowling, he picked three crucial wickets, including that of Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson and Shimron Hetmyer. Â This helped Gujarat to restrict Rajasthan to 130 runs.
The cricketer-turned-commentator was mighty impressed with Hardik Pandya’s bowling. Sharing his thoughts on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra said, “Hardik the batter, Hardik the captain, Hardik the bowler. The captain came to the forefront in the grand finale, when do you get to see that many times? He picked up three wickets, he cleaned up the heart, heartbeat and kidney.”
He added:
“He first dismissed Samson, then Buttler and then Shimron Hetmyer. He broke the back and many times of the opposition batting lineup and then made an important contribution in the batting. Of course, he was not present in the middle to finish the match.”
“There was only one difference between both teams” – Aakash Chopra
Hardik Pandya also played a mature knock of 34 runs in 30 balls to bail out Gujarat after two early wickets in the powerplay. He formed a 50 plus runs partnership with Shubman Gill to help Gujarat successfully chase the target of 131.
Aakash Chopra believes that Hardik Pandya was the biggest difference between the two teams. The 44-year-old said:
“There was only one difference between Gujarat and Rajasthan, that was Hardik Pandya. Both teams had five amazing bowlers, if Rajasthan had a strong top order, Gujarat also had two-three formidable batters. Hardik Pandya was bringing balance, a batter in the top six who does good bowling.”
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