'Want to get the best out of his skills' - Rahul Dravid on Hardik Pandya's role ahead of South Africa T20Is

India will be engaging with South Africa in a five-match T20I series, starting June 9. The Indian team will have some major absentees in the form of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, and Mohammad Shami. But one player that will be the center of attraction in the series after his brilliant IPL campaign is Hardik Pandya. India’s head coach Rahul Dravid has revealed that they will look to get the best of the talented all-rounder.

Gujarat Titans’ captain roared back to form after suffering from unfortunate injuries in the last couple of years. The right-hander has not featured for the national team since the T20 World Cup last year, but a successful season with Gujarat Titans in IPL 2022, has seen the Baroda man recalled to the team.

Pandya was impressive with his batting skills this season, as he was promoted up the order, and he finished with 487 runs in 15 matches in IPL 2022. Head coach Dravid also showered praises on the 28-year-old’s leadership skills, as he guided his franchise to their maiden IPL title in their debut season. The former Indian batter also spoke about getting the best out of the flamboyant batter.

“Hardik’s leadership was impressive right through the IPL. You need to be the designated leader to be part of the leadership group. From our perspective, we would want to get the best out of his skills, batting, bowling, and fielding,” the Indian Head coach said to the press ahead of the series opener against South Africa.

‘He’s quick and improving with every session’ – Rahul Dravid on Umran Malik

The former Indian captain also spoke about the young tearaway pacer Umran Malik, who had an outstanding season in IPL 2022. The breathtaking pacer blew away several batters with his raw pace, as he scalped 22 wickets for the Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL 2022.

“Obviously, he is learning. He is a young boy and he is getting better, improving. The more he is able to play, the better he is going to get. From our perspective, (we are) very happy to have someone like him in the mix. We have to see how much playing time we can give him, we need to be realistic, we have a large squad, it is not possible to give everyone playing XI time,” he said.

“I think I am certainly someone who likes to have that consistency, give people time and let him feel settled in position. It would be interesting to see how much playing time we give to Umran. We also have Arshdeep here, who is brilliant as well. We have experience in the form of guys who have been with us before; Harshal, Bhuvi, Avesh. There are certain things we need to look at but it is nice and exciting to have a couple of young guys in the mix as well. It has given an opportunity for us to broaden our pool and see what they can do.”