IPL 2023: 'Hardik Pandya is growing and maturing as captain' - Former Indian opener after GT beat MI

Hardik Pandya-led Gujarat Titans (GT) beat five-time winners Mumbai Indians (MI) in match 35 of the IPL 2023 edition on Tuesday (April 25). Being asked to bat first, in Ahmedabad, the defending champions rode on Shubman Gill's 56, David Miller and Abhinav Manohar's 46 (22) and 42 (21) respectively and Rahul Tewatia's 5-ball 20* to post 207 for 6.

In reply, GT restricted the Rohit Sharma-led MI line-up for 152 for 9 to lose by 55 runs. After the game, former Indian captain-turned-commentator Aakash Chopra lauded Hardik's captaincy skills and feels he is growing and maturing with each game.

Chopra said on JioCinema, "It's hard to win a match from a defensive position, we've seen this in the TATA IPL. The point about captaincy was very salient. The game started with fast bowlers bowling quite often with discipline due to the movement of the ball. Soon after, spinners were introduced at the right time. They made an error last game (versus Rajasthan Royals)in judging the dew and brought Noor at the end and Hetmyer punished him."

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He added, "He learned from that and ensured Noor's overs were done earlier. Rashid and Noor, two spinners with five wickets, and Hardik's captaincy just seems to keep improving. Mohit wasn't playing well but he still sent him to bowl the final over and take crucial wickets even though he could've done that himself as a captain. He changed Mohit's day from bad to good to maintain his confidence. I think Hardik Pandya as a captain is growing and maturing."

Hardik was promoted as India's ODI vice-captain early this year and has been leading the T20I line-up ever since Rohit Sharma has been out of the scheme of things in the format following the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia.

At present, GT occupy the second spot in the points table with five wins from seven encounters.