Hardik Pandya led Gujarat Titans to IPL 2022 title victory (Photo: iplt20.com)
Hardik Pandya revealed that he was near becoming a member of the Lucknow Super Giants final yr however a telephone name adopted by a textual content message modified his life
Hardik Pandya’s captaincy debut within the Indian Premier League (IPL) final yr was a stepping stone in his limping profession. He returned from an damage that had troubled him for greater than three years. Leadership was utterly unexplored territory for Pandya, one thing he had by no means achieved within the home circuit as nicely. However, his confidence was such that he led the Gujarat Titans to a title victory that too on a debut season. Ending up as the best scorer of the group added to his credibility and finally, he stormed into the Indian dressing room. And now, he’s being seen as a future captain of Team India.
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It’s protected to say that Gujarat Titans was the explanation why the followers acquired to know the second model of Pandya, which was a lot improved than the earlier one. However, initially, it wasn’t the group he was imagined to be part of. The all-rounder revealed that he was near becoming a member of the opposite debutants within the match – Lucknow Super Giants – within the earlier version.
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“I did get a call from the other franchise (Lucknow Super Giants) as well, which was a new franchise in IPL. Someone who I knew (KL Rahul) was leading the team. For me, it was very important, considering the stage at which I was, where I really wanted to play with a person who has known me,” Hardik advised Gaurav Kapoor in Gujarat Titans’ podcast.
The GT skipper additional defined how a name from former India pacer Ashish Nehra, who ended up being the coach of the facet, modified his thoughts.
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“But then Ashu pa called me. At that time, the team also didn’t have permission to be part of the IPL. It was very haywire; things weren’t even settled. He said, ‘I’m going to be the coach. It isn’t fixed yet, but I will be coach’. I was like, ‘Ashu pa, if you weren’t there, I wouldn’t have even considered this because you’re saying this… I’ve always felt you are one person who has understood what I am’,” Hardik mentioned.
“I’m simple to work with, the one who knows me, knows what I am. I think he (Nehra) comes in those categories who have found the right side of me. I was completely off the grid because I took a sabbatical, and was away from the sport. I had decided not to be available for anything.
“I told him, ‘Ashu pa, it’s very important for me to know what you’re looking at’. We had a good chat. I was like, ‘okay let me think about it’. Moments after disconnecting the call, he dropped me a message saying ‘if you’re ready, I would like you to take the captaincy’. That was a surprise for me. I didn’t expect that. I’ve never been a person who has ever run behind anything. If someone comes, it comes. When I got to know, I was in a different zone,” Hardik talked about.
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