A 10-team Indian Premier League (IPL) season is all set to begin from March 26 with defending champions Chennai Super Kings taking on Kolkata Knight Riders in the tournament opener. Gujarat Titans and Lucknow Super Giants will make their IPL debuts when they square off against each other on March 28. Both franchises have a new combination and two Indian players leading the team. While Lucknow have got former Punjab Kings leader KL Rahul as their captain, Gujarat has entrusted Hardik Pandya, who is about to step into the new role comprising elements like man-management and tactics.
The flamboyant all-rounder from Baroda has had his fair share of struggles post his back injury. Hardik may have struggled to manage his bowling workload for the past couple of years, but the 28-year-old cricketer can start fresh with the added responsibility of leadership.
Hardik is relatively inexperienced when it comes to captaining a side. His last stint as skipper was during the Under-16 level when he led the team in Vijay Merchant Trophy and in Under-19s at club level. But veteran India wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik believes Hardik is an "interesting" choice for the role. He underlined the player's batting prowess and predicted the skipper will be fascinating to watch with added responsibility.
"For me, I am very keen to see how Gujarat Titans go because personally, I feel Hardik Pandya is a very interesting choice as captain. He has all the flamboyance... whether he can transfer that into his teammates (remains to be seen). He's somebody who's very confident about his abilities and in many ways, walks the talk. It will be very interesting to see his kind of leadership, the way he takes that team forward," Karthik told Cricbuzz.
{{/usCountry}}"For me, I am very keen to see how Gujarat Titans go because personally, I feel Hardik Pandya is a very interesting choice as captain. He has all the flamboyance... whether he can transfer that into his teammates (remains to be seen). He's somebody who's very confident about his abilities and in many ways, walks the talk. It will be very interesting to see his kind of leadership, the way he takes that team forward," Karthik told Cricbuzz.
{{/usCountry}}"He's got all the skills that have been in great all-rounders who've done well for their countries... He's got [a] great attitude, obviously he's a very flashy batsman, I am very, very sure he's going to be bowling in this IPL and we all know he's a terrific fielder so personally, he's going to be in a good nick. But... he's the leader of a team now so how he's able to guide the youngsters is going to be a very interesting watch this season," he further added.
Hardik was picked by Gujarat Titans for ₹15 crore in the pre-auction draft and was eventually named the captain. He will be working with head coach Ashish Nehra as the Ahmedabad-based franchise chases glory in its first IPL spell.
While the team has senior India pacer Mohammad Shami, Afghanistan sensation Rashid Khan and New Zealand quick Lockie Ferguson in the bowling mix, it lacks a special batter at the top with Shubman Gill being the only reliable alternative.
It will be interesting to see what role does Hardik the batter take up after a successful IPL stint with five-time champions Mumbai Indians. He will most likely contribute with the ball as well. He had recently undergone a general assessment at the National Cricket Academy where he bowled and also passed the 'Yo-Yo' Test.