2022 Indian Premier League (IPL) has seen a young and new captains with Hardik Pandya being the most-about leader. Roped in by Gujarat Titans as their draft pick before the mega auction after being released by Mumbai Indians, Hardik’s impressive captaincy has surprised many, including former Australian cricketer Brad Hogg, who in fact sees shades of MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma in his leadership. (Follow IPL 2022 full coverage)
Hardik has been astounding as a leader, guiding Gujarat Titans to the the playoff spot in IPL 2022. They were the first side to make the next round in the league this season after winning 9 of their 12 games. Speaking on his YouTube channel, Hogg admitted that he sees components of Dhoni’s leadership qualities in Hardik – “cool, calm, collected, and composed”.
“We look at the MS Dhoni components to his game style: Calmness, not getting overboard by the situation, and changing his body reactions to any situations when they’re under pressure. He’s still cool, calm, collected, and composed. He talks to his players to make sure they’ve got a clear mind of what they want to execute next under pressure,” he said.
“He’s calming everything down. He knows the end result, he’s not reacting quickly to certain situations. And when he makes changes, they are precise changes, and they have been game-changing moments. and that is MS Dhoni.”
Besides captaincy, Hardik has also led from the front as a batter, batting at No.4 for the Titans. He scored 344 runs in 11 matches at 38.22 and a strike rate of 131.8. However, he is yet to bowl regularly for his side.
Hogg further opined that like Rohit, Hardik also tends to give bowlers the opportunity to control the situation and is only at the player’s ears when he is on unsure of his abilities.
“Rohit Sharma – he’s allowing players to play with freedom. You can see it. He’s allowing his bowlers, especially, and this is where you see it most in this part of his leadership to express themselves to back their game plans. The only time he goes and talks to them is if the player is just looking like he’s on the back foot and not quite sure about himself,” he said.
“He’s just telling them what do you want to bowl, what’s your gameplan, back it, go for it, or if there needs to be a little bit of a change, he allows the bowler to say, ‘I might think of this and then he’ll add his own opinion.’ He’s not dictating the situation, he’s allowing the bowlers to take control. That is brilliant leadership.”
