Former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar has backed Gujarat Titans (GT) all-rounder Hardik Pandya to lead the country in the future. He recently captained the Titans to the IPL 2022 title in their debut campaign.
The Titans thrashed Rajasthan Royals by seven wickets in the Indian Premier League final on Sunday, with the skipper taking three wickets and scoring 34 runs in front of nearly 105,000 fans in the world’s biggest cricket stadium.
After a superlative campaign, the veteran cricketer-turned-commentator has backed Hardik Pandya to captain India in the future. Speaking on Star Sports, Sunil Gavaskar said:
“When you have leadership qualities, it automatically opens the door for honours at the national level to be able to captain the Indian national team in the near future. The way he has led the team, the way he has got them together, the way he has got them to gel together means he has got leadership qualities.”
He added:
“Not just my estimation, but everybody’s estimation. This was an aspect of his game which nobody had too much information about.”
“He feels comfortable with leadership” – Daniel Vettori on Hardik Pandya
Former New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori feels captaincy does not burden Pandya as all-rounders are used to donning different hats.
“I think the thing we forget about all-rounders is they have so much responsibility on them anyway,” he told ESPNcricinfo.
“So they can actually handle it because they bowl all day, they bat all day, they are used to being busy all the time. He feels comfortable with leadership, with responsibility,” he added.Â
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