IPL 2022 Qualifier 1 | Hardik Pandya has the burning need to win the trophy with GT, says Ravi Shastri

Former India head coach Ravi Shastri heaped reward on Hardik Pandya, saying the Gujarat Titans captain is showcasing a ‘burning desire’ to win the IPL 2022 trophy with the newbies.

Speaking after Gujarat Titans booked their place within the IPL 2022 last on Tuesday, May 24, Shastri stated he has been impressed with the way in which Hardik has gone about his enterprise in his first stint as a captain of an IPL crew.

Gujarat grew to become the primary crew to e book a spot within the last because the table-toppers defeated Rajasthan Royals by 7 wickets, efficiently chasing down 189 in Qualifier 1 on the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.

Hardik led from the entrance with the bat, scoring a vital 40 not out as he stitched a 106-run partnership with David Miller in a well-paced chase.

“There is a burning desire to win, being a team from Gujarat, the final is in Gujarat, he wants to take that there,” Ravi Shastri advised Star Sports.

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Hardik is Gujarat’s main run-getter in IPL 2022 because the all-rounder has reveled in his new function of batting at No. 4. The former Mumbai Indians star has scored 453 runs in 14 matches at a mean of 45.30.

Questions had been requested about Gujarat’s batting prowess after the IPL 2022 mega public sale, however Hardik has led from the entrance, doing the majority of the work on the prime of the order even because the openers have been going hit or miss.

‘CAPTAINCY HAS HELPED HIS BATTING’

Shastri, who labored intently with Hardik throughout his tenure as head coach, stated Hardik at all times needed to bat larger up the order and captaincy has solely performed wonders to his batting.

“He has tremendous confidence in his ability. He reads the game extremely well. He always wanted to bat higher up the order He can bat like a No. 4 batter. He reads the situations of the game, he reads the conditions, he knows his role and what is required and for captaining the side, the added responsibility has done wonders to his batting,” Shastri added.

Shastri lauded Hardik for taking a backseat and let Miller do the heavy-lifting throughout their partnership. Notably, when 17 runs had been wanted off 6 deliveries, Miller hit 3 sixes within the first 3 balls of the ultimate over to take Gujarat previous the end line.

“He can play both ways, make no mistake about it. If he were on strike for the final over, he might have done exactly what David Miller did. He kept his cool,” Shastri added.