IPL 2023: GT star names one key similarity between MS Dhoni and Hardik Pandya's captaincy

IPL 2023: MS Dhoni, who has captained the Chennai Super Kings to 4 IPL titles will come back again to begin the campaign for the potential 5th title. While Mumbai Indians have been CSK's greatest rivals, in the forthcoming season CSK would face the daunting task of putting away the defending champions Gujarat Titans. Hardik Pandya, who has won over fans through his captaincy resembles MS Dhoni in that aspect, as per a GT teammate.

In IPL 2022, Gujarat Titans led by Hardik Pandya took the tournament by storm and won the trophy in their maiden attempt. The win brought Hardik Pandya into the mix for the national captainly, where as well he has begun to taste success. As captain, Pandya has impressed many experts, and according to his Gujarat Titans teammate Sai Kishore, Hardik Pandya and MS Dhoni have an attribute in common when it comes to captaincy.

"Hardik and Mahi bhai (MS Dhoni) are pretty similar in the way they handle things, they both are pretty calm," Sai Kishore told the media during a virtual interaction session on Friday. "One thing that I really admire about Hardik is his ability to handle success and failure equally – that is something very unique about him. He is a level-headed guy and that works (for him)," he said.

About IPL 2023

Sai Kishore also laid out comments on the upcoming season and stated that the tag of defending champions does not hold much value as the team faces the task of repeating last year's performance. 

"The tag of being defending champions is up to us whether to take it or not. We played well last year and that is why we won. I think if we can do that (then) the tag won’t matter much," he said.

About the new additions to the rules, Kishore said. "It is more like the super-sub rule where we can either use a bowler or a batsman. It is basically like playing with 12 people. We have already played with this (rule) in domestic (cricket). The only change is that we can use it till the 20th over, in domestic it was restricted to the 14th over. In 20 overs, it should be a lot easier to handle,” he said.