Hardik Pandya credits Ashish Nehra for his success as captain

Rajkot, January 8: Indian T20I skipper Hardik Pandya has credited Gujarat Titans coach Ashish Nehra for making "a big difference" to his captaincy after guiding the national team to a third T20I series win.

Pandya was first handed the Indian captaincy in June last year, when he led the team to 2-0 series win in Ireland followed by a 1-0 series win in New Zealand. Now, he has led Team India to a 2-1 series win over Sri Lanka.

Coming back from a long injury layoff, the premier all-rounder was made the Gujarat Titans skipper in a bold move by the first-timers, and he led them to an IPL triumph in their maiden appearance last year.

Pandya had led only once at senior level in a tour game against Australia, but has done well as the skipper thanks to his stint at Gujarat Titans, where he won 11 of his 15 matches as captain.

In his 8 matches as captain of India, Pandya has won 6, lost once and tied once. The 29-year-old, who has a good record as a skipper so far, has revealed Nehra has played a huge role in his role as a captain.

"What has been very important from Gujarat point of view is the kind of coach I worked with. Ashish Nehra made a big difference in my life, because of our mindsets. We might be two different personalities, but we have very similar cricketing thoughts," Pandya said after India clinched the T20I series against Sri Lanka.

"Because I was with him, it added value to my captaincy. It helped me to get exactly what I know. It was just about getting that assurance, once I got that... the awareness of this game I always knew. It was all about knowing and backing what I knew already. It has definitely helped me," he added.

Before the home series against Sri Lanka, the Indian selectors overhauled the side after the Rohit Sharma-led team failed to win the T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia, losing to eventual champions England in the semifinal.

Prior to the Sri Lanka series, Pandya had led India's T20I side whenever Rohit was unavailable and the 29-year-old revealed that he has never been captain of a team even in junior level.

"I've never led in junior cricket as well. When I was under-16 I led Baroda. After that everyone thought that I should focus on my game. Since then, I've not led (a side)," Pandya added.

(With PTI inputs)