Gujarat Titans’ captain Hardik Pandya’s fitness and his bowling abilities have been under the scanner in recent months. But in the 2022 IPL Final, Hardik turned on the style with a sensational spell, picking three big wickets to set up a memorable win for his franchise.
Hardik, who was captaining the franchise, and led them to the title in their maiden season said he wanted to be able to show what he had worked for at the right time.
“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,” Hardik said.
The Gujarat skipper picked the wickets of Sanju Samson, Jos Buttler and Shimron Hetmyer to derail the Rajasthan Royals batting.
“Second ball of my spell when I got Sanju out, saw that if you hit the wicket hard and hit the seam something is gonna happen. All about sticking to the right lengths, asking the batters to play the right shots,” Hardik said looking back at the final.
An elated Hardik also explained that he had been enjoying the responsibility of batting higher up the order this season.
“For me my team is the most important. I've always been that kind of individual. If I were to have a worse season and my team wins, I'll take that. Batting comes first to me, always going to be close to my heart. When we got the auction done it was clear I had to bat higher to guide,” Hardik signed off.
Hardik has now won the IPL five times and said a good unit helps a lot.
“This is the right example for any team in the world. If you can play as a team and build a good unit with genuine people around, wonders can happen. I and Ashu pa, we like to play proper bowlers.”
Hardik, who won the Player of the Match award, said that while batters do their bit, it’s the bowlers who are the most important according to him.
“Batters can obviously chip in, but most of the time I have seen in T20 cricket - it's a batter's game but bowlers win you games. A lot of times we won the games as well, but we always spoke about what are the things we missed out and how we can get better from here. Everyone chipped in.”
“Count myself lucky winning 5 finals, it's been exciting. This is going to be a special one. We spoke about creating a legacy. Generation to come, everyone will remember this was the team who started this journey and to win the championship first year is very special,” he signed off.
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