Hardik Pandya reveals MS Dhoni's silence made him learn biggest lesson on India debut

Former Indian cricket captain MS Dhoni is one of the greatest leaders to have graced the sport. MS Dhoni is known for his cool and calm demeanour on the field, which is also cited as one of the reasons behind his success. MS Dhoni is the only captain in world cricket who has won all the three ICC events (T20 World Cup, ODI World Cup & Champions Trophy) as captain. India became a force to be reckoned with under MS Dhoni's captaincy.

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MS Dhoni wanted me to learn from my own experiences: Hardik Pandya

One of the greatest attributes of his leadership is that he gives his players the freedom to try things out and learn from their own experiences. He doesn't guide players unless he realizes that they are out of options. Players who have played under MS Dhoni’s captaincy got to witness what exemplary leadership skills looked like. Recently, even his CSK teammate Harbhajan Singh was amongst the few who testified to this.

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One player who made his debut for the Indian team under MS Dhoni's captaincy is all-rounder Hardik Pandya. The lanky Baroda star made his debut against Australia in a T20I in Adelaide when MS Dhoni was the skipper of the team. Hardik Pandya didn't have the best of starts to his international career though as he leaked 19 runs in his first over and also started the over with three consecutive wides.

While speaking to Harsha Bhogle on Cricbuzz, Hardik Pandya revealed that after being hit mercilessly in his first over at the highest level he thought his India career was over. However, Hardik Pandya explained how MS Dhoni stood by him in a situation where some other captains would’ve criticized the bowler. He said that he genuinely thought his India career was over as he had never taken such a beating even in domestic cricket.

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Hardik Pandya, who conceded 26 runs in first 8 balls of his international career, bounced back later in the game and scalped two wickets to finish with figures of 2/37. Hardik Pandya further revealed that MS Dhoni didn't tell him a word even after being hit so badly because he wanted him to learn from his own experiences. The Mumbai Indians star said that he thinks it was something fantastic as because of that experience he got over the overwhelming fact that he is playing for India.

Hardik Pandya revealed at that moment he could tell himself that he knows MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. He concluded that he couldn't digest the fact that six months prior to that, he used to admire these cricketers but soon was playing with them in the same team.

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IMAGE COURTESY: AP