After Sunil Gavaskar, England's Michael Vaughan was the next high-profile former cricketer to back Hardik Pandya to lead India in white-ball cricket in the near future. Vaughan said if the Indian selectors are looking for someone to lead the side in a couple of years then shouldn't "look past" Hardik, who led Gujarat Titans to their IPL title in the first attempt. Gujarat finished on top of the table with 20 points at the end of the league stage and then went on to beat Rajasthan Royals twice - first in the Qualifier 1 and then in the big final - to be crowned champions.
"Fantastic achievement for a new franchise … If India need a captain in a couple of years I wouldn’t look past @hardikpandya7 … Well done Gujurat," Vaughan tweeted.
Hardik, who had a terrific season with both bat and ball, became only the third captain after Anil Kumble and Rohit Sharma to win the Player of the Match in an IPL final. He picked up the wickets of Sanju Samson, Jos Buttler and Shimron Hetmyer in the final and also scored crucial 34 runs with the bat to guide his side to victory.
Vaughan said Hardik used his positive learnings from his Mumbai Indians days and created an enjoyable environment in Gujarat Titans.
{{/usCountry}}Vaughan said Hardik used his positive learnings from his Mumbai Indians days and created an enjoyable environment in Gujarat Titans.
{{/usCountry}}"Great mentality. I just wonder as captain how much he has taken from Mumbai and taken to Mumbai to create this family and this environment. They seem like they are enjoying their cricket. In t20 cricket you got to be able to play with a free mindset. And I reckon Hardik has grabbed quite a lot from his years in Mumbai of what they do. Mumbai and Chennai have been the best in terms of collectively looking at the players. Mumbai are probably looking and going 'oh no, what have we done. Why did we release him?'," Vaughan said on Cricbuzz.
This was Hardik's fifth title as a player. He had won four IPLs with Mumbai Indians. Only Rohit Sharma (6) has more IPL victories than him.
After a short break, Hardik will join the Indian side which will take on South Africa in a five-match T20I series. The first match of the series will be played in New Delhi on June 9.