IPL 2022 | Pandya opines on Titans' sensational win against SRH

Ahead of the IPL 2022 season, the all-rounder Hardik Pandya’s abilities were doubted due to injury concerns and his falling graph with the bat in the tournament’s last edition. However, the Indian maestro has made a strong comeback by being a leader of the Gujarat Titans (GT) in the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Pandya has amassed over 300 runs in seven appearances and picked up four wickets as well. But, in the clash against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), he could only score 10 off 6 balls.

After his dismissal, the team stuttered, but the heroics from Rahul Tewatia and Rashid Khan saved the day for GT, helping them become the table-toppers once again.

At the post-match presentation, Hardik reckoned that God has been kind to them and helped the team seal the crunch moments. 

The Baroda cricketer thinks that the team is involved in many such close games and fears that they may run out of luck in the playoffs.

“I keep joking in the dressing room that God is telling us, ‘You guys are good; I’ll help you’. It’s happening so often that I fear we may run out of luck in the knockout games. We keep a very chilled atmosphere, and everyone is stepping up. We’re ensuring that the players are backed well,” the GT skipper reckoned.

The all-rounder also gave an update about his fitness concerns and his bowling in the remaining matches of the tournament. As per Pandya, he would chip in with the ball whenever the team needs him. 

“It’s just a conscious decision to manage my bowling. My plan is to bowl whenever the team needs me. It’s a long tournament and I don’t want to get too excited early. We’re quite practical, we’ve spoken about winning these situations, and there is a lot of self-belief in the camp,” he added.

“It’s important to keep calm in the dugout. A lot of credit goes to the support staff for how they’ve been handling the players,” the 28-year old concluded.