Gujarat: In the end, with their captain Hardik Pandya leading the charge with both the bat and ball, nothing was going to stop Gujarat Titans from holding the IPL trophy this year.
The all-rounder spoke in detail about his performance in the presentation after he was named the Man of the Match, insisting that he had saved his “best for the best.”
“This title is going to be a special one because we talked about creating a legacy. The coming generations will talk about it,” Hardik said. “Everyone will remember this was the team who started this journey and to win the championship first year is very special.”
The Gujarat Titans’ triumphant skipper said he knew he was going to bat at number four for the first-timers after they got done with the mega auction ahead of IPL 2022. “When the auction finished, I knew I would have to bat at No. 4,” Hardik said at the presentation ceremony.
Asked about his bowling, he said, “Wanted to show at the right time what I’ve worked hard for. Today was the day from the bowling point of view I saved the best for the best. Second ball of my spell when I got Sanju (Samson) out, saw that if you hit the wicket hard and hit the seam something is going to happen. It’s all about sticking to the right lengths, asking the batters to play the right shots.”
“On any given day, I will take the trophy rather than me batting at 160-170 strike rate. For me, my team is the most important, whichever team I play for. I have always been that kind of individual. Outside noise does not bother me. If I had to sacrifice and have a worse season and my team wins, I’ll take that,” said Pandya.
“I always fancy myself as a batter. Batting comes first to me. It’s always going to be close to my heart. When we got the auction done, it was clear that I had to bat up the order,” he further added.
Speaking about his batting, he said, “Batting comes first to me, always going to be close to my heart.”
Hardik has enjoyed a splendid run in his fresh IPL season with his home franchise. In 14 innings, he has scored nearly 500 runs at an average of 45.30 while also picking up plenty of wickets, which has earned him praise from many quarters.
