Former Indian selector Saba Karim is happy to see BCCI appoint all-rounder Hardik Pandya as the captain of the Indian team for the upcoming two-match T20I series against Ireland as well. However, he has returned to action with a bang during IPL 2022 and led his side, Gujarat Titans (GT) to their maiden title in the maiden season as captain too. Meanwhile, many questions were raised about his place in the Indian team after his serious back injury that affected his bowling too.
Speaking on the TOI podcast Sportscast, Saba Karim explained how impressed he was with the way Pandya led the Gujarat Titans and had his own identity as a captain: He said: “Hardik Pandya, although he spent a lot of time with MS Dhoni, spent a lot of time with Virat Kohli, he has his own brand of captaincy and the way he plays his cricket is so different from what Virat does or what MS Dhoni does. So you learn from so many great individuals who have been part of the side, but eventually you bring your own leadership style onto the field and I think that’s what he did.”
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However, Karim believes Hardik Pandya applied everything as a captain that he had learnt as a player. He added: “I think what I have noticed in Hardik Pandya are the learnings that he has absorbed by being an international cricketer over the last 4-5 years. I believe the change we noticed on the field for Gujarat Titans, the change actually started from the captain. And that is why he turned his entire sojourn into such a huge success for Gujarat Titans.”
Saba Karim also stated Hardik Pandya’s back injury was a turning point in his career. He realized he was at his best when he was effective with both bat and ball. He worked on that and his hard work paid off too which was seen in his performances in the IPL 2022 season.
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“I do believe that these are all life experiences. He started to value the fact that he is such an exceptional cricketer and that he cannot take things for granted. He realised that eventually he has to take care of his fitness, work on his skill – see to it that he is always ahead of the opposition,” Saba Karim concluded.
