Gujarat Titans won IPL 2022 on Sunday after defeating Rajasthan Royals in the summit clash at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. It was skipper Hardik Pandya who was brilliant on the day, taking three wickets and scoring 34 runs. It was this performance that helped Hardik win Player of the Match in the summit clash. This season, Hardik displayed good all-round performance and former India captain Sunil Gavaskar reserved some high praise for the 28-year-old.
“The selection committee would be delighted. The leading group would be delighted with the way he has come through because everyone had seen him batting, but they had not seen him bowl. He has been coming and bowling three overs on the trot, four overs on the trot which shows he is 100 per cent fit. Yes, he has to be managed well, no question. When you have had a back injury as serious as that, when you have had surgery, you have to be managed. He was bowling today in the mid 140s which means he was really letting it rip,” said Gavaskar on Star Sports after the match between GT and RR.
“Also, the shot selection he showed as a batsman, he was not throwing his bat at everything. The shot selection was absolutely terrific. Yes, in this game, you will get out looking for a six but generally, the captaincy just like it did with Rohit Sharma, the shot selection became better. Rohit Sharma was also like Hardik Pandya, brilliant absolutely. The moment he got the captaincy, he started scoring 70-80-100s as well,” he added.
Hardik reserved his best performance with the ball for the final as he went on to register a spell of 3-17, and this included the wickets of Sanju Samson, Jos Buttler and Shimron Hetmyer.
Promoted
In the IPL 2022 season, Gujarat skipper Hardik registered 487 runs with the bat and he also took eight wickets with the ball in hand. Talking about the final between GT and RR, the latter batted first and posted 130/9 in 20 overs. Buttler top-scored with a knock of 39.
Chasing 131, Shubman Gill and David Miller remained unbeaten on 45 and 34 respectively to take Gujarat over the line by seven wickets and 11 balls to spare.
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