Hardik Pandya led Gujarat Titans (GT) to fifth win of the ongoing season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) on April 25 (Tuesday). The defending champions defeated Mumbai Indians (MI) by 55 runs at the Narendra Modi Stadium and made it five wins in seven matches played this season. Hardik has led GT in sublime fashion and once again, the defending champions are looking like one of the best teams in the competition.
After the game against MI, Hardik spoke about his captaincy style and how being on the same wavelength with Ashish Nehra has boded well for the franchise.
"That has been my motto, always taking calls on situations. T20 is very funny, a couple of sixes can change your mind. Captaincy is something I back my instincts on. I and Ashu Pa have a similar mindset, we back our calls and we have similar calls. Today, the idea of bowling Rashid and Noor was simple," Hardik said in the post-match presentation ceremony.
"They like pace with Green and Tim David who are big hitters, and that's why we wanted to offer them spin and offer them spinners that are difficult to read. Wanted to close the game early because a couple of games haven't gone in our favour recently," the GT skipper added.
Hardik also lavished praise on Abhinav Manohar, who played a sizzling knock against Mumbai Indians on Tuesday. The explosive right-handed batter scored 42 runs off 21 balls with the help of three fours and as many sixes. In IPL 2023 so far, Manohar has played four matches and scored 86 runs at a brilliant strike rate of 182.98 and emerged as GT's best batter in death overs.
"I think it is all hard work, he bats 2 hours in the nets every day it feels like. He's (Abhinav Manohar) been our best death overs hitter. We spoke to him last year and there were a few things he had to improve on, and this year he's come out blazing," Hardik added.
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