Under the capable leadership of Hardik Pandya, Gujarat Titans (GT) have performed admirably in IPL 2023, stream-rolling their opponents with their bowling. The defending champions are at the top of the points table with six wins from nine matches. GT aren’t perfect and don’t have any problems, but they always find a way to win games even when things are tough.
The form of Gujarat’s skipper Hardik, who bats in the top order but hasn’t contributed much beyond his gold-dust 66 against the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), is one of the issues Gujarat is having. The ace all-rounder’s performance is markedly different between this version of Hardik Pandya and the one who played for the Mumbai Indians (MI) until 2021. In light of this, we will talk about the differences between the two Hardik Pandya versions.
3) Burden of captaincy
How many times have we witnessed a player’s game being impacted by the responsibility of team leadership?
Hardik’s decision to lead a batting line-up without a superstar or hard-hitting player until No. 1 appears to have had an impact on him as well. 4.
When compared to the Mumbai Indians, playing for the Gujarat Titans has had a significant impact not on his captaincy but rather on his batting.
Hardik used to bat at a strike rate of 158.98 for MI, while the GT’s strike rate was 124.35.
2) ‘Finisher’ turned into ‘anchor’
The well-known MI trio of Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, and Kieron Pollard used to wreak havoc on opposing bowlers in the final overs with their ferocious hitting.
He decided to bat higher in the order after joining the Gujarat Titans and being made captain of the franchise. He has assumed the role of anchor to not only direct the inexperienced batting lineup but also to direct the innings.
Hardik is becoming more mature, and while batting, he is taking on more responsibilities. He has started playing percentage cricket for GT most of the time, which is helping him score runs but has a very low strike rate.
1) Regular bowling
While Hardik was with MI, he was utilized as a center over implementer as a 6th bowler and only from time to time completed his statement of four overs.
However, for GT, he has begun to bowl himself into the powerplay, utilizing Mohammad Shami and the pitch’s early momentum to their advantage.
With an economy of 6.73 since IPL 2022, he has perfected his role as a powerplay enforcer, even though he hasn’t taken many wickets in this phase of the game.