When given responsibility, Hardik Pandya is a completely different cricketer: Ravi Shastri

One of India’s finest all-rounders, Hardik Pandya tasted success in his first stint as a captain in IPL 2022 with Gujarat Titans. Thereafter, he has been hailed by many cricket pundits and former cricketers as the future captain of the national team. In fact, Pandya led India to a 2-0 T20I series victory against Ireland last month as well and was seen contributing in both departments.

The latest to have an opinion is the former head coach, Ravi Shastri, who was impressed with the all-rounder’s attitude and mindset throughout IPL 2022. He added that the extra responsibility as a leader can certainly raise Pandya’s performance in all spheres of the game.

“He was picked by Gujarat Titans, where he was given the extra responsibility of captaining, which did him a world of good. When given responsibility, he’s a completely different cricketer as opposed to just batting and fielding,” he said.

Hardik Pandya was shocked after not getting retained by MI: Ravi Shastri

Furthermore, the former cricketer has revealed that Pandya was in shock after Mumbai Indians (MI) decided to not retain him ahead of the IPL 2022 auction. It is evident that the five-time IPL winning side had a few other illustrious players in their ranks as well. In the end, they secured the services of Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Kieron Pollard, and Suryakumar Yadav.

Ahead of the auction, Pandya was chosen as the leader of Gujarat Titans. On the other hand, MI bought back Ishan Kishan for his ability to provide blistering starts to the team. “It shocked him when he was not retained by Mumbai Indians,” Shastri said on air during the second ODI between England and India.

“It was tough… MI had Ishan Kishan, Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav, and Hardik Pandya so they had to pick three out of those five. Ishan Kishan was obviously picked in the auction,” Shastri added. However, a few blunders in MI’s decision-making and poor performances from the top players witnessed them languishing at the bottom of the table. They managed to win on only four occasions out of 14 league matches.