If India need a captain in a couple of years, wouldn’t look past Hardik Pandya: Michael Vaughan

Former England captain Michael Vaughan acknowledged the performances of Hardik Pandya as Gujarat Titans skipper in IPL 2022 and said that he is ready to lead the Indian team when the time arises. Without much experience as a leader, Pandya managed to marshall his troops to a maiden IPL title, and brought his A-game into play throughout the season with both bat and ball.

At the start of the tournament, not many experts predicted Gujarat Titans to go all the way into the playoffs or win the title. However, their consistent performances and different players stepping up in each game meant they finished on top of the points table of IPL 2022 in the league stages with 10 wins in 14 games.

Skipper Pandya was one of the biggest positives for the team as he amassed 487 runs in 15 games and finished as the top run-getter of the franchise. He adapted to the role at No. 4 quite well and earned a recall into the Indian side as well for the five-match T20I series against South Africa. He came to the party with the ball as well with an important three-wicket haul in the finals against Rajasthan Royals, which broke the momentum completely for the batting side.

Michael Vaughan impressed with Hardik Pandya’s captaincy

Meanwhile, Vaughan was highly impressed with Pandya’s captaincy and noted about India having a serious captaincy potential when the vacancy arises in the next few years. “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 .. #IPL2022,” Vaughan tweeted.

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 .. #IPL2022

— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) May 29, 2022

Pandya’s role will be of immense importance in the T20 World Cup 2022 for India and now the all-rounder has shown that he has the goods to deliver as a captain as well. India already have the likes of Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul and Jasprit Bumrah as captaincy candidates, and Pandya has made the list without a doubt.