Hardik Pandya made a brilliant start to his captaincy career in Gujarat Titans’ (GT) first match of IPL 2022 against Lucknow SuperGiants (LSG). It was a very special match as both the franchises were making their IPL debut.
Hardik Pandya has been out of form and out of favour from the past couple of years and he has been in the news for all the wrong reasons. But, from what we got to see in the match between GT and LSG, Hardik seemed absolutely focused and determined to prove that he is far from being over and he is doing whatever it takes to make a comeback at the International level.
In his first-ever IPL match as captain, Hardik Pandya promoted himself up the batting-order and came out to bat at number 4. He looked absolutely comfortable right from the first delivery and timed the ball as sweetly as he could. Almost everything came from the middle of his bat and he scored 33 runs off 28 balls, before getting out to his elder brother Krunal Pandya, who is playing for LSG in IPL 2022.
It was a very special match for the Pandya family as Hardik Pandya and Krunal Pandya were playing against each other for the first time in the IPL, after Mumbai Indians did not retain them in the IPL 2022 mega-auction.
When asked about his feeling after getting out to Krunal and how the family reacted, Hardik Pandya said he would have been very upset with dismissal had Gujarat Titans lost the match. But since his team won the match, Hardik Pandya said it’s okay that Krunal got him out because the family is now “neutral and happy”.
“Getting out to him would have pinched me more had we not won the game. But it’s okay; the family is happy now that he’s got me out and we won the match. The family is neutral and happy,” Hardik Pandya said in the post-match interview.
