Hardik Pandya's wife Natasha Stankovic, brother Krunal Pandya helped him recover from injury: Suresh Raina

Add as a preferred source on Google

Mumbai, April 2: India star all-rounder Hardik Pandya started his journey as a captain in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 with a win when Gujarat Titans defeated Lucknow Super Giants in their opening game.

In the match against LSG, Hardik also put to rest the debate about his fitness and also made a comeback as a bowler, thus putting speculations to rest. In the game against Lucknow, the Baroda cricketer left former India cricketers Irfan Pathan and Suresh Raina impressed with his fitness in the opening game.

Both Pathan and Raina claimed that the Gujarat Titans captain bowled nicely in the opening game and the confidence he got in the opening game will augur the new skipper well in the tournament.

While speaking during an episode of Cricket Live on Star Sports, the official broadcaster of IPL, Pathan claimed that good performance with bat and ball will eventually boost the confidence of Hardik - the captain.

Pathan said, "The best thing about Hardik Pandya is that he's once again started bowling. You can see that he's not trying to bend a lot while releasing the ball, which means he's not putting a lot of strain on his back. There might be a slight dip in his pace due to this but bowling two-three good overs at the start of the tournament will give him the confidence to do well. If Hardik Pandya the batter and Hardik Pandya the bowler does well, then Hardik Pandya the captain will eventually do well. He's looking to leave the disappointments of the previous season behind and make a fresh start."

Former India cricketer Suresh Raina highlighted the importance of the family members when a player is recovering from an injury and praised Hardik's wife Natasha and his elder brother Krunal Pandya for being his pillar of strength.

Raina said on Star Sports, "The way Hardik Pandya has made his comeback, is commendable. In a player's return from injury, his family, especially, his wife has to play the most important role and we could see the happiness on his wife's face when he was bowling. His elder brother Krunal has also played a major role in Hardik's recovery and gave him all the confidence he needed. Hardik is looking fit and he's also generating decent pace with the ball, these are good signs for Gujarat Titans."