Indian star all-rounder Hardik Pandya has been receiving praise from all corners for his captaincy and for the way he has risen through his ranks in the last few years. Recently, he added another trophy to his cabinet as he led the Indian cricket team to a T20I series win against New Zealand. Besides his all-around performances, the 29-year-old has shown amazing leadership qualities and is branded as the ideal successor of skipper Rohit Sharma in white-ball cricket.
Meanwhile, veteran Indian player Ravichandran Ashwin heaped praises on Pandya after the stand-in skipper channeled his inner MS Dhoni while responding to a query about his teammate Sanju Samson. For the unversed, with Rishabh Pant re-instated as the No.1 choice, wicketkeeper-batter Samson was asked to warm the bench throughout the three-match series T20I between India and New Zealand.
Well, during the post-match presentation, Hardik Pandya was asked about Samson’s ouster from the Indian XI, responding to which, Pandya opted to take a cue from Dhoni while explaining the absence of Samson from the playing XI. He had said:
“He knows it’s not personal. It’s got to do with the situation. I am a peoples’ person. So if anyone needs me, I will be there for them. Everyone knows that if they feel anything at all, my doors are always open for them to come and have a chat with me, because I understand how they are feeling,”
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Ravi Ashwin appreciated Pandya’s brilliant response on this topic. Ashwin praised Hardik Pandya for handling a tricky question brilliantly. He said:
“I don’t know if he wanted to say that in Thala Dhoni’s style because we all know that Hardik is super close to Thala Dhoni. He handled a tricky question that is always trending on social media very beautifully. So, kudos to Hardik,”
He added: “Hardik Pandya replicated what he did for Gujarat Titans with the bat. He came out with all guns blazing. That was the only reason the match got tied,”
