'I forgot to set the field. What Ashish Nehra did...': Hardik Pandya recalls IPL incident

Gujarat Titans captain Hardik Pandya has been one of the real reasons for their success and he also took them to the title of the Indian Premier League in their debut season. Hardik also performed brilliantly in the IPL 2022 both with the bat and the ball which resulted in the team's brilliant performance in that season. Titans also look in the same form in IPL 2023 and are in the top three teams in the points table. Ahead of the upcoming GT vs KKR clash in the tournament, Pandya heaped praise for the former India fast bowler and the team's head coach Ashish Nehra. 

Hardik Pandya praises Ashish Nehra 

Hardik Pandya was asked which captain influenced him the most. Hardik's answer was on the expected lines as he named MS Dhoni. But surprisingly Hardik named another cricketer as the person who he gives the captaincy credit to. 

"Mahi has influenced me the most, I have observed a lot of things from him. When it came to captaincy I didn't want to copy anyone and I wanted to be myself. I see the game differently and everyone sees the game differently. I wanted to trust the game I saw because I have taken a lot of smart calls in my life and I have always been a person in my life who has always taken the right calls I really wanted to trust my mindset and game awareness. My captaincy credit goes more to Ashu Pa because in my initial days when I led the captaincy, the first game when the first over got over and I went to stand at mid off I forgot to set the field. What Ashish Nehra did really well for me, my and his understanding, we are mad people but we are still two different kinds of personalities. Our game sense is similar and we like the way we play. As it was I trusted him because I wanted to do the job well and better," Hardik said on Jio Cinema.

Telling the reason behind him being a successful captain Hardik Pandya said while having a conversation with Robin Uthappa on Jio Cinema, "One person who has been crucial in my growth is Ashu bhai (Ashish Nehra). We are mad people. We are slightly different kind of persons but out game sense is the same. He has guided me well". 

Sunil Gavaskar impressed with Hardik Pandya's captaincy 

READ: DC vs SRH today match IPL live score

Former India batsman Sunil Gavaskar was also impressed with Hardik Pandya's captaincy skills and said during a discussion on Star Sports, "Sometimes the captains try to keep their personality and the team's personality the same. The personality of the captain and the team could be different. Hardik is not trying to impose his personality on the team. That's what Hardik is doing with GT. This is going to be his legacy as a skipper. He's very similar to MS Dhoni in his approach as captain and imbibed the good qualities from his former India skipper." 

READ: GT vs KKR IPL Live Score, today match latest updates

Coming back to Gujarat Titans' current scenario in the Indian Premier League 2023, they will be up against the Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens ground in Kolkata. Titans have won the toss in match 39 and have elected to bowl first. KKR has made an explosive start to their innings and has scored 179/7 runs in 20 overs. 

Seeing the Gujarat Titans' batting line up they might not have trouble chasing down the target. 

Gujarat Titans vs Kolkata Knight Riders IPL 2023 Playing XI: 

Gujarat Titans: Wriddhiman Saha(w), Shubman Gill, Hardik Pandya(c), Vijay Shankar, David Miller, Abhinav Manohar, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Mohammed Shami, Noor Ahmad, Mohit Sharma

Kolkata Knight Riders: R. Gurbaz, N. Jagadeeshan, Venky Iyer, Nitish Rana, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, David Wiese, Sunil Narine, Vaibhav Arora, CV Varun, Harshit Rana