Hardik Pandya has seen his international career zoom off to another level ever since he won the IPL title last year as captain of Gujarat Titans. Left out of the Indian team after a poor showing in the ICC T20 World Cup last year, many thought it could well be the end of the road for the all-rounder who had also been struggling with fitness issues.
But Hardik returned to action in the IPL as batter, bowler and captain and played all three roles with elan as he guided the newcomers to the IPL title.
This brought his international career back on track as well and Hardik has from time to time produced match winning efforts in T20Is. After India's semi-final exit in the 2023 ICC T20 World Cup, the indications are that Hardik is being groomed as India's next white ball captain and the first step to that was him leading the team in the ongoing T20I series vs Sri Lanka,
Indian off spin great Ravichandran Ashwin in an interview with The New Indian Express spoke about his views on Hardik as captain.
"He is a very smart cricketer. The thing I like about him is he is very chill. Because he's chill and relaxed, I think it will keep the team atmosphere pretty relaxed and players will perform well as a unit," Ashwin said.
Hardik's team won the first match against Sri Lanka narrowly but were beaten in the second match on Wednesday as Indian fast bowlers missed their mark against a rampant Sri Lankan batting unit.
The young side will play the series decider on Friday.