Sri Lankan cricketing legend Kumar Sangakkara has backed Hardik Pandya to be a full-time skipper for the Indian cricket team.
Hardik Pandya established himself as a perfect contender for the captaincy role after leading the Gujarat Titans to their maiden IPL title. After the T20 World Cup debacle, the BCCI is looking for a major overhaul in the T20 format. Hence, Hardik Pandya is leading the race to become India’s next captain for white-ball cricket, owing to his recent success.
Hardik has led Team India for a couple of bilateral series in the absence of Rohit Sharma. Interestingly, India has not lost a match under Hardik’s captaincy so far. Now, former Sri Lankan cricketer, Kumar Sangakkara has come out in support of the all-rounder. He backed Hardik Pandya to be the next potential captain of the Indian cricket team.
“There is no doubt that Hardik Pandya’s leadership is excellent,” Sangakkara
Kumar Sangakkara hailed Hardik Pandya’s leadership skills. He said that Hardik Pandya is a good captain, and his stint with the Gujarat Titans proved it.
“There is no doubt that his leadership is excellent and we all saw that in IPL. Now he has to melt that with on-field captaincy at the national level. He has all qualities to be a leader although you don’t necessarily need to be a captain to be a leader,”
Sangakkara further added that Hardik Pandya has all the qualities that define a good leader. However, he asserted that the national captaincy will not be a cakewalk for the all-rounder. Hardik will have to tackle some of the hardest moments on the field and inspire his teammates to get better each day.
“Now captaincy on the field can be a different thing. To read moments, win moments and strategize, you have to be sharp, and I think Hardik has all ingredients to be a good captain. The hardest part is to inspire, talk and manage his players in a group together to play with a vision and the rest will come with experience, captaining in close games,”
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