'Had never even led in junior cricket': Hardik Pandya credits ex-India cricketer for making 'big difference in life'

Hardik Pandya has lost just one out of the eight matches in which he has captained the Indian team thus far.

Hardik Pandya's stature as an all-rounder and as a captain has seen a steady, and rather stunning, rise since the start of 2022. It started off with him leading the Gujarat Titans to the Indian Premier League (IPL) title in their very first season in the league. Pandya has since then captained India eight times in T20Is and won six of those games.

Pandya has won six out the eight matches in which he has captained the Indian team (AP)

Pandya is hence yet to lose a series as India captain, the latest of which was when they sealed a 2-1 win over Sri Lanka on Saturday. He said after the match that he had captained a team only once in the under 16 level but never before or since. “I have never led in junior cricket as well. When I was U16, I had led for Baroda but after that everyone said I should concentrate on my own game and so since then I had not really led a team," Pandya told reporters after the game.

Pandya said that the credit for him being able to establish himself as a reliable captain goes to former fast bowler Asish Nehra, who is head coach of the Gujarat Titans. “What has been very important was the kind of coach I worked with at Gujarat Titans. Ashish Nehra made a big difference in my life - we are very similar in terms of cricketing thoughts. We might be two different personalities but when it comes to cricket we are very similar. Because I was with him, it added more value to my captaincy. It helped me to get exactly what I know. It was just about getting assurance, I always knew that I have a certain awareness of the game. It was just about kind of backing what I know already,” he said.

The 29-year-old has almost always led Indian teams filled with relatively inexperienced and young players. “Managing (a young team) is not difficult. But, at the same point of time, it’s a young group. They will make mistakes and learn from it. We emphasise that once you make a mistake, you learn from that. Acceptance is very important in this sport. If you don’t accept it, things go very far,” he said.