Hardik Pandya is all set to make his captaincy debut for India in the first T20I against Ireland on June 26 in Dublin. Leading a second-string Indian side, Pandya believes is happy with the responsibility he has been given and wants to take ownership of the decisions he takes on the field and off the field.
Captaincy style
"If I can take ownership of my own things and take my own decisions, they tend to be strong. Cricket is such a game, staying strong during situations is very important.
"Always responsibility was given to me and I took it and that's why I became better. While captaining I will see how I can give the same responsibility to every player and give them the ability to fight with situations," the Baroda all-rounder said in the virtual press conference.
On the eve of the T20I, the all-rounder revealed that he has learnt a lot from former skippers MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli but will lead the team in his own style.
"Obviously I have taken a lot of things from them (Dhoni and Kohli) but at the same time I also want to be myself, obviously my understanding of the game is different but I have taken a lot of good vibes from them,” Pandya explained.
The Gujarat Titans (GT) skipper gave a glimpse of how he will lead the side against the Irish side in absence of big names like Rohit Sharma, Kohli, Rishabh Pant, Jasprit Bumrah and others.
"I am not instinctive but I see more situation than go on my gut. At what point of time, what decision the team requires, I focus on that rather than going on my gut. Gut always goes 50-50," he said.
World Cup in sight
The 28-year-old is in no mood to take the T20I series against minnows lightly as it is part of preparation for the upcoming T20 World Cup in Australia.
"It's a challenge mentally, it is easier to say that we are playing against Ireland but playing for India is the biggest pride. If we want to win the World Cup, every match from here is important for us to reach the World Cup final. The first thing I said to all is that it doesn't matter whom we are playing, we need to focus on our own things.
"We keep the same intensity we generally keep even if we are playing the World Cup or a big series. Again it comes down to mental strength, how better you can get because it's not easy in two matches getting yourself on but at the same time we are playing for India and we have to be on our A game which we will,” he explained.
Few debuts
India have a few huge prospects warming the benches. Many former cricketers have backed and are excited to see speedster Umran Malik and Arshdeep Singh making their T20I debuts. Pandya said while there will be a few debuts, it will still be their best XI for the fixture.
"We want to give opportunities but at the same time we want to play with our best XI. So there will be a couple of caps given but at the same time it is about making sure that when we go on the field we have the best XI," he clarified.
