Mumbai Indians bowling coach Shane Bond is mighty impressed with the way Hardik Pandya performed for the Gujarat Titans in IPL 2022. The former New Zealand pacer is also confident that the star all-rounder will do a wonderful job for India in this year’s ICC T20 World Cup, which will take place in Australia.

After being released by five-time winners Mumbai Indians, Hardik was roped in by the new franchise Gujarat Titans ahead of the 15th edition of the marquee tournament for a staggering INR 15 crore. He was also appointed as captain and he led GT outstandingly well. As a result, the Titans finished as table-toppers in the league phase and later went on to lift their maiden title.

Hardik Pandya is a pretty cool captain: Shane Bond

“Hardik is a pretty cool captain. He came in the IPL to Mumbai in my first season so we spent a lot of time together. It was probably a foreign role for him to step up as a leader for a different franchise but he did a great job. From my perspective, I miss him. It would have been nice to have in around in our team because he is a quality player. India need him too for the World Cup because he showed what a quality player he is and also what a good leader he is,” said Shane Bond while speaking to Sportskeeda.

Apart from leading  Gujarat Titans, Hardik also had a dream run with both the bat and ball. He scored 487 runs from 15 matches and also took eight wickets with his best performance coming against the Rajasthan Royals in the final where he took 3/17 and completely broke the backbone of the 2008 champions, restricting them to a below-par total of 130/9.

Pandya will next be seen in action during the five-match home T20Is against South Africa starting June 9. This would also mark his return to international cricket after the T20 World Cup 2021 in November last year.

Hardik Pandya was named “Man of the Match” in the IPL 2022 Final for his all-around performance in the field. Pandya led his side to glory in an impressive campaign with the bat. Not many gave them a chance of making it to the playoffs after the mega auction, let alone going all the way in this year’s competition. Following the triumph in his maiden IPL stint as captain, former Indian cricketer Kiran More has lavished praise on Hardik’s fabulous performance in the IPL 2022.

The all-rounder did not have the best of times in the last few months. He was carrying injuries that limited his bowling time and was also dropped from the national side. But this season, we saw a different Pandya, as he promoted himself up the batting order and played responsible knocks for his side at crucial junctures of their campaign. The hard-hitting batter amassed 487 runs this season with four half-centuries to his name.

Hardik’s brilliant outing in this year’s tournament as a leader and an all-rounder has made him an invaluable asset for the Indian team. Kiran More believes that he is a four-dimensional player now with his added leadership qualities.

“For me, Hardik was a young kid, who wanted to perform all the time. I now believe he is a four-dimensional player now. Earlier he was a three-dimensional player because he is a bowler, batter, and a fielder but now he is captain as well. So you feel proud that you have such a talented cricketer on the national side,” said More while speaking to SG Podcast.

I saw the hunger in Hardik’s eyes to play the sport- Kiran More

The former Indian cricketer also recalled an incident from Pandya’s younger days, when he used to accompany his older brother, Krunal Pandya to his coaching academy. “He wanted to play the sport. Krunal Pandya (his elder brother) had joined my academy and Hardik used to hang around. He used to keep running behind the nets and catching the ball. That is when I told Krunal to bring him to nets as well and that’s when I saw the hunger in his eyes,” added More.

In their debut Indian Premier League season, Gujarat Titans were terrific with their balanced performances in all the departments. They were the first team to qualify for the playoffs and had 10 wins in 14 league matches. In Qualifier 1 and Finals, GT secured a dominating victory over the Rajasthan Royals (RR).

Although the Titans ended as a winner, there surely were loopholes in the team, which were taken care of in the first half of the season. This move kept them stable for most of the second half, which helped them to perform well. This list of three players constitutes the ones not getting the opportunity or proving to be ineffective in their performances.

Let’s look at three players GT might release ahead of IPL 2023

1. Vijay Shankar

Often hailed as an all-rounder, Vijay Shankar has been rather ordinary with his performances in the last couple of editions. After getting dropped from the Indian team, he lost his form with the bat and is not bowling enough overs as well.

In the 2020 season, he scored 97 runs at an average of 24.25 and followed it up with only 58 runs in seven innings at 11.60. But the performances for Tamil Nadu in the 2021 edition of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy helped him to get a contract from Titans.

In a total of four appearances, Shankar could garner only 19 runs, with his scores reading as 4,13, 2, and 0. It looked like he didn’t have the confidence to score runs for the team, and got dismissed in a carefree way. He last played for GT in the first half and is the top contender to be released ahead of the next season.

2. Jayant Yadav

The off-spinner, Jayant Yadav has primarily been a handy bowler for the Indian team in the red-ball format. To date, he has featured in only 19 IPL matches and has been part of various squads since 2015, barring 2018. GT bought him for INR 1.70 crore, for his utility as a bowling all-rounder.

In the last few editions, he has been used for keeping the opposition batters tight in the powerplay overs. Although Yadav’s economy has been under eight, he does not have enough wickets under his belt, which is a differential skill against the players, who are ready to take your place in the team.

The 32-year-old spinner could not feature in any of the games in the 2022 season, with the team already having Rashid Khan as the first-choice spinner. The stand from the team management is quite clear, as they included left-arm spinner Sai Kishore later in the tournament. Kishore’s success might pave the way for Yadav to make an exit, come next season.

3. Dominic Drakes

One of the most talented all-rounders, West Indies’ Dominic Drakes could not find a place in the playing XI for the entire season. He shot to the limelight by producing impressive performances for St Kitts and Nevis Patriots as he helped them to win the 2021 edition of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL).

In 11 matches, Drakes picked up a total of 16 wickets and was the team’s most successful bowler. With the bat, he scored 102 runs at a strike rate of 161.90. In the finals, his match-winning knock of 48* off 34 established him as an able all-rounder. Soon, he featured for the West Indies team as well.

Titans picked him up for a pace-bowling option and a useful batter in their line-up. However, captain Hardik Pandya was terrific in the tournament to don the role of an all-rounder, and the team looked to play with an extra bowling option, rather than an all-rounder. These few reasons can keep the youngster apart from the Titans squad in 2023.

Being the captain of the new franchise, Gujarat Titans, Hardik Pandya impressed everyone as he guided the team to the IPL trophy in their first attempt. Gujarat denied Rajasthan Royals their second title by defeating them in a one-sided final by seven wickets. West Indies legend Ian Bishop also heaped high praises for the India all-rounder for his stellar performance alongside his impressive captaincy abilities.

Before the start of this season, everyone was in shock as he was named the leader of this team. Hardik didn’t have much leadership experience and individually, he had no form behind his back as he was coming back from an injury setback. However, he stole the show throughout the tournament as he scored 487 runs along with eight wickets. Even in the final, he came out as the Player of the Match for his crucial three wickets and a steady innings of 34 runs off 30 balls. His leadership skills were the talk of the town as he managed to bring out some positive results from some crunchy situations.

“So many different guys stepping up all season,” – Ian Bishop on Gujarat’s win

Speaking about his form, Ian Bishop took his Twitter account and heaped high praises for his all-round contribution. He stated that Hardik is a great asset for any team when he is fit to bowl. He said: “By the way, Hardik Pandya is gold for any team once he’s fit to bowl.” He also congratulated the franchise for winning the IPL trophy in their first season. The WI great added: “Congrats to Hardik Pandya and his @gujarat_titans one of two franchises to win the IPL in their first season. Wonderful bowling unit and so many different guys stepping up all season.”

Here are the tweets from his official account:

By the way, Hardik Pandya is gold for any team once he’s fit to bowl.

— Ian Raphael Bishop (@irbishi) May 29, 2022

Congrats to Hardik Pandya and his @gujarat_titans one of two franchises to win tHe IPL in their first season. Wonderful bowling unit and so many different guys stepping up all season. 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆

— Ian Raphael Bishop (@irbishi) May 29, 2022

Notably, this top-class performance throughout this IPL season, earned Hardik a comeback call to the national team for the upcoming home T20I series against South Africa starting next month.

Finally, there came an IPL finale night in five years where fans and the world witnessed a team other than the mighty Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings hanging on to the glory. The evening of 29^th May was surreal and super surreal for the young skipper Hardik Pandya who rose to the occasion perfectly while carrying the expectations and dreams of thousands, who lit the majestic Narendra Modi Stadium.

The 104,859 (to be precise) who turned up at the venue were well aware of the fairy tale season the Gujarat Titans were having, but still wouldn’t have signed up for a magnificent show on the final night. It would be an understatement to say that the season was special for the Titans as they shush the noise from every corner and in every aspect to stand tall in their maiden season itself.

Though the special factors to note down in GT’s stupendous journey were endless, a promising young skipper gifting an inordinate victory to his fellow Gujaratis, on their home ground, with his all-round show stands out. None would have noted, one of the new entrants to be a force to reckon with, but they kept finding different match-winners in every single game, proving that sky is their only limit.

Storming their way through the final while topping the table, Gujarat stunned Samson and his men in the ultimate clash to become only the second side to win the title in their maiden season and too in front of the side, which achieved the same feat for the very first time in 2008.

What worked for Gujarat Titans?

Hardik Pandya moved into the new IPL season with a new franchise and new responsibilities, to prove a point, but the unsaid baggage he carried was way too heavy for people to know. Not many would have noted him as a threat at the start while leading an average-looking team on the paper, with no prior captaincy experience at this level. Moreover, failing to flaunt his best showing with the ball in the last few years, critics disapproved of him sporting a perfect all-rounder’s cap. But guess what?

Not only did he turn out to be the highest run-getter for GT in the season with 487 runs under his belt, but also bagged his IPL best bowling figures of 3/17 on the night of the finale, tearing apart critics who wrote him off in the bowling department.

Rahul Tewatia– The trailer of what the Haryana all-rounder is capable of, was shown well enough by him in the IPL 2020 season when he smoked Sheldon Cottrell for five sixes in an over. The story was no different this season as he finished the game successfully for his franchise on more than one occasion, the highlight being his two straight sixes off the last two balls against PBKS when GT needed 12 runs to win the game.

His finishing abilities became so obvious and known to all that after the Titans won the title, Harsha Bhogle stated that ‘Entire Gujarat did a Tewatia today’.

Wriddhiman Saha- India’s senior wicketkeeper-batter entered the season after facing some turbulence on the professional front and no one would have thought him to do well in the shortest format of the game. Pitching in with vital contributions for GT, Saha collected 317 runs to his name, his second-best to the ‘362 runs’ that he accumulated in the 2014 IPL.

David Miller and Shubman Gill- Both the players held on to consistent lines throughout the season to inch closer to the 500-run club. Miller (481 runs) and Gill (483 runs) owned the season like Kings but their class leveled up as these two were the ones who stood out in the middle when GT reigned superior in Ahmedabad. Gill’s season-winning six marked the beautiful wrap to the Titan’s IPL 2022 journey.

Rashid Khan– The heroics of the established star spinner is well known to all and he did the same this season too while picking 19 wickets, conceding at 6.60. However, the cherry on the cake was Khan’s finesse with the bat lower down the order, the cameos that changed the games for his team.

The coincidence and luck factor for Gujarat Titans

‘There was a point to prove not to others but to myself’ – MS Dhoni had said after clinching the 2011 World Cup and it looked like Hardik Pandya imbibed the same essence to lead GT to glory. While it was the complete teamwork that sailed their boat in the season, Gary Kirsten’s presence as mentor turned up quite lucky for the side, a stroke of luck that he carried from 2011 itself.

It was Nehra and Kirsten yet again, who smiled broadly with Titans this time while smiling with India back in 2011. The level of coincidence (from India’s 2011 WC win) jumped to the next level when the no. 7 jersey brought victory for the side with a magnificent six in the stands while pushing on back foot Lasith Malinga and Kumar Sangakkara’s side to conclude their fairy tale saga.

Hardik Pandya impressed one and all with his captaincy skills as he led Gujarat Titans to the IPL triumph in their maiden appearance in the tournament. His leadership capabilities surprised everyone and India legend Sunil Gavaskar is not an exception either. Hardik’s men defeated Rajasthan Royals (RR) by seven wickets in the IPL 2022 final at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on 29 May 2022.

Many were in shock when this new franchise appointed Hardik as their captain as he was coming back from an injury setback. His captaincy skills were an unknown aspect while the entire cricket fraternity was also in doubt about his form regarding batting and bowling. Hardik did not captain any side since his U-16 days and hence, GT’s decision of making him the leader was a total shocker for everyone.

However, he proved his critics wrong as he led Gujarat to the top of the points table after league matches by winning 10 matches out of 14 (20 points). Then, he guided his team to the final by defeating RR in Qualifier 1 at Eden Gardens. Finally, his boys defeated RR again in a one-sided final by seven wickets under his captaincy. Hardik Pandya led his troops from the front as he scored 487 runs in 15 matches at an average of 44.27.

He also grabbed eight wickets in 10 matches in which he bowled. His contribution in the final was instrumental as he picked three crucial wickets of RR. He also scored a valuable 34 runs off 30 balls to help GT to chase the target of 131 in just 18.1 overs. He was named the Player of the Match for this stellar performance.

When you have leadership qualities, it automatically opens the door: Sunil Gavaskar

Speaking to Star Sports about his captaincy chances for Team India, former Indian skipper Sunil Gavaskar said: “Yes definitely. Not just my estimation, but everybody’s estimation (Hardik’s reputation as a leader has gone up). This was an aspect of his game which nobody had too much information about,” he added.

“We all knew what he could do with the bat, what he could do with the ball, but there was just a little bit of a concern before the start of the season about whether he would be able to bowl his full quota of four overs. He has done that, he has shown that. That all-rounder aspect is done, and everybody is happy. When you have leadership qualities, it automatically opens the door for honour at the national level to be able to captain the Indian national team in the near future,” he added. 

“So that’s exciting, there are 3-4 other names in the ring. I am not saying he is the next in line. But for the selection committee to have that option is fantastic,” he concluded.

Notably, Hardik Pandya was rewarded for such a successful IPL campaign as he was called back to the India squad for the upcoming home T20I series against South Africa.

The Gujarat Titans completed an emphatic win against the Rajasthan Royals in the final of IPL 2022 in front of their jubilant home crowd in Ahmedabad. The new franchise, led by Hardik Pandya, showed no signs of nerves as they got over the line quite comfortably in the end. One of the heroes on the night, Shubman Gill, termed this win as big as winning the U19 World Cup.

Gill stayed at the crease till the end of the game in a tricky chase as he smacked a six off Obed McCoy to seal their maiden IPL trophy. The former KKR opener was on the losing side in last year’s final against Chennai Super Kings and was determined to make amends as he played a responsible knock of 45 (43 balls).

The elegant batter lost his opening partner, Wriddhiman Saha, early in the chase, but he stitched crucial partnerships with Hardik Pandya and David Miller to see his side home. Shubman Gill had his most productive season in the IPL scoring 483 runs this year. His IPL success is no surprise to anyone as the young opener is adept at scoring important runs at the biggest of stages.

His unbeaten 102 against Pakistan in the U19 World Cup semi-final was one of the best innings of the tournament. Gill was named the Player of the Series in that tournament after a string of stellar performances.

“It means a lot. After winning the Under-19 World Cup, winning the IPL is just as big. It is my fourth year. I wanted to be there till the end, and that was the talk with the coaches. Glad I took them over the line. Our bowlers bowled really well to restrict them to 130. We wanted to keep them under 150, but fortunately, it was much less,” Gill told the broadcasters after Gujarat’s triumph.

The Hardik Pandya show

Earlier, Sanju Samson won the toss and decided to bat first. The Rajasthan openers were off to a decent start in the powerplay but after Yashasvi Jaiswal’s dismissal, the Royals kept losing wickets at regular intervals. The wicket of Jos Buttler in the 13th over proved to be the killer blow as the Rajasthan side managed to reach an underwhelming tally of 130 runs in their 20 overs.

Hardik Pandya, who had a great season with the bat in IPL 2022, ran riot with the ball in hand as he picked up three wickets in his four overs, conceding just 17 runs. He broke the back of Rajasthan innings by picking up the all-important wickets of Sanju Samson, Jos Buttler, and Shimron Hetmyer. Pandya continued his good form with the bat as he scored a handy 34 off 30 deliveries after his side was in a spot of bother at 23/2. His partnership with Gill steadied the ship for the Titans and David Miller finished it off along with the opener.

New franchise Gujarat Titans (GT) completed a fairytale story as they won the 15th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) by defeating the inaugural season champions Rajasthan Royals (RR) convincingly by seven wickets in the mega final at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. Skipper Hardik Pandya was the star performer for his side in all the departments including his spot-on captaincy. He registered his best figures of 3/17 in the league and then scored 34 runs to win the title for GT in their very first season itself.

Talking about how the final encounter panned out, captain Sanju Samson won the toss and opted to bat first. Yashasvi Jaiswal again gave his side a quickfire start as he scored 22 off 16. Orange Cap holder Jos Buttler looked cautious and paced his innings slowly. Samson managed to score 14 while Devdutt Padikkal played a scratchy innings of two off 10 balls. Hardik took all the big wickets of Buttler, Samson, and Hetmyer as RR couldn’t find any momentum in their innings.

Buttler was the top-scorer for his side like he has been throughout the competition with his knock of 39 runs. The Royals finished with a total of 130/9 in 20 overs. Sai Kishore took two wickets while Mohammed Shami, Rashid Khan, and Yash Dayal all snared a scalp each. Chasing just 131 to win, Prasidh Krishna got rid of Wriddhiman Saha early for just five runs. Trent Boult dismissed Matthew Wade for eight runs and GT found themselves at 23/2.

But Shubman Gill kept going for his side with skipper Hardik also contributing in the chase. Yuzvendra Chahal took the latter’s wicket but it was too little too late for RR. With that wicket, Chahal won the Purple Cap award with 27 wickets in the competition. He also became the spinner with most scalps in an IPL season.

Meanwhile, David Miller and Gill both remained unbeaten on 32 and 45 runs respectively as GT sealed the deal in 18.1 overs. The impressive Titans side performed exceedingly well in the competition and the table-toppers deservingly lifted the trophy in their debut campaign. For his all-round performance, Hardik Pandya was named the Player of the Match.

Meanwhile, here are some of the important stats and numbers from the final between Gujarat Titans and Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League 2022:

 863 – Jos Buttler has now smashed the second-most runs (863) in an IPL season. Virat Kohli tops the chart with 973 runs in the 2016 edition.

374 – Buttler has now also scored the third-most runs in the powerplay in an IPL campaign. David Warner amassed 467 in 2016 while Adam Gilchrist 382 in the year 2009.

3/17 – Hardik Pandya registered his best bowling figures of 3/17 in the IPL. His previous best was 3/20 against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in 2019.

483 – Runs scored by Shubman Gill in IPL 2022, most by him in an edition. He managed to score 478 runs in the 2021 edition.

27 – With 27 wickets, Yuzvendra Chahal has now taken the most wickets by a spinner in a season. Wanindu Hasaranga took 26 wickets this campaign and Imran Tahir also 26 in the year 2019.

157.3 – Lockie Ferguson bowled the fastest delivery of 157.3 kmph in IPL 2022. He went past Umran Malik’s record of 157 kmph which he clocked against Delhi Capitals (DC).

2 – RR scripted the second-lowest total of 130/9 batting first in an IPL final. Mumbai Indians (MI) had scored 129/8 against Rising Pune Supergiant in the year 2017.

3 – Hardik became the third captain to win the POTM award in the final. Anil Kumble and Rohit Sharma won in 2009 and 2015 respectively.

2 – Hardik recorded the second-best figures of 3/17 by a captain in the final of the league. Anil Kumble is on top for taking 4/16 against Deccan Chargers in 2009.

50 – Hardik also reached the landmark of 50 wickets in the tournament.

3 – Buttler and Chahal won the Orange and Purple Caps respectively and it became the third instance of the highest run-getter and the leading wicket-taker ending up from the same team. Michael Hussey and Dwayne Bravo for CSK in 2013 and David Warner and Bhuvneshwar Kumar for Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in 2017 are the other two instances.

17 – Riyan Parag has now taken the second-most catches (17) in a season. AB de Villiers grabbed 19 in the 2016 campaign.

100 – Hardik batted in his 100th IPL innings.

Gujarat Titans won the Indian Premier League (IPL) title beating Rajasthan Royals in the final in their maiden season itself. It was a comfortable win for them as the bowlers set it up earlier, restricting the Royals for just 130 runs. The total was then chased down comfortably by the Titans with seven wickets and almost two overs in hand. The Titans’ camp erupted in joy after the win as skipper Hardik Pandya created history by winning the IPL title in his first season as the leader of the side.

The all-rounder was all smiles after getting over the line and was so happy even as his wife Natasa Stankovic came down to meet him. The couple hugged each other in delight but the latter broke down after meeting her cricketer husband. Hardik was also seen consoling her as they hugged each other.

Hardik Pandya went through a lot of troubles as IPL 2022 was his comeback season. He was criticised a lot for not bowling during the T20 World Cup last year. He didn’t play a single game since then and worked a lot on his fitness making a comeback in the IPL this year. The GT skipper bowled significantly as well and most importantly, picked up three crucial wickets in the final when it mattered the most.

For all the struggles he went through, Natasa probably got emotional and hence, broke down after the Gujarat Titans won the IPL title under Hardik Pandya’s captaincy.

Here’s the video:

pic.twitter.com/1wXDKuCKXm

— Ashok (@Ashok94540994) May 29, 2022

Hardik Pandya – The all-rounder shines in IPL 2022

Hardik Pandya– the all-rounder – is certainly back for India as he shone for Gujarat Titans in both aspects of the game. He amassed 487 runs, the most for Titans this season, in 15 matches at a strike rate of 131.26 and an average of more than 44. Hardik also scored four fifties in the tourney apart from picking eight wickets in 10 innings he bowled, including a stunning spell of 3/17 in the final.

A rejuvenated Hardik Pandya is back to play for India in the upcoming T20I series against South Africa and the fans will be hoping for him to continue playing in the same vein with the T20 World Cup to be played in Australia later this year.

Jos Buttler has been in the form of his life in IPL 2022. He made his bat do the talking exceptionally well in Qualifier 1 and 2, scoring 89 and an unbeaten 60-ball 106 respectively. In fact, that match-winning century against RCB was also his fourth one this season. Buttler was oozing with confidence coming into the final clash against the Gujarat Titans at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad and looked set for another big knock.

Even though the Englishman did read the wicket well and batted sensibly, he could not last for too long and walked back just when he was looking well-set, having scored 39 runs from 35 deliveries. His wicket opened up the floodgates for the Titans as they dried up the Royals’ scoring rate. Meanwhile, as Jos walked back to the dugout, he was upset with his dismissal and did not shy away from expressing it.

Jos Buttler expresses disappointment after his dismissal in the final

On the very first ball of the 12th over, the England limited-overs superstar looked to play a cut shot off GT skipper Hardik Pandya, but he failed to time it well as the ball took the outside edge and went straight into the gloves of Wriddhiman Saha who made absolutely no mistake behind the stumps.

Gujarat celebrated in delight as a gutted Jos Buttler took a long walk back to the dugout. The star opener was seen throwing his helmet and gloves in disgust near the Rajasthan Royals dugout and headed towards the dressing room.

pic.twitter.com/xBBrHP24rA

— Cred Bounty (@credbounty) May 29, 2022

Buttler might not have been able to convert his good start into an impactful knock in the grand finale, but he will finish as the Orange Cap winner of this season having amassed 863 runs from 17 matches. He surpassed David Warner’s tally of 848 runs in the 2016 season to register the second-highest individual runs in IPL history.

With 973 runs, batting megastar Virat Kohli is still at the top position as far as individual batting performances in a season is concerned.