IPL 2022: Rashid Khan lauds Hardik Pandya's leadership skills

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Bengaluru, April 15: Gujarat Titans (GT) spinner Rashid Khan lavished praised on skipper Hardik Pandya, saying the latter has been leading from the front with inspirational performances and is also going out of his way to create a happy team environment for the Ahmedabad-based franchise, which is making its debut in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022.

Following their crushing 37-run win Rajasthan Royals (RR) in Match 24 of IPL 2022 at the DY Patil Sports Academy Stadium in Navi Mumbai on Thursday (April 14) evening, the Titans are now on top of IPL points table with four wins from five games.

And leading from the front is Hardik, who is currently second in list of run-getters and is also bowling well in every game.

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"The way he (Hardik) has led the team, the way he has kept the team environment, inside and outside the field has been amazing so far," Rashid said at the virtual post-match press conference.

Rashid, the ace spinner from Afghanistan, said Hardik was someone who always takes brave decisions.

"He (Hardik) is someone who always takes that brave decision, always has confidence and he is someone who is very clear in mind on what he is going to do.

"This is an important thing as a captain when your mind is clear, and you take right decisions, the result will take (care) by itself," added Rashid.

Ability to take right decisions at right time makes him a good leader, feels Rashid.

"You take right decisions with confidence, that is something which makes him the best and he has been delivering the best so far and leading from the front - (be it) batting, bowling and fielding," added Rashid.

At Navi Mumbai on Thursday evening, riding on Hardik's brilliant all-round performance, GT beat RR rather convincingly to move to the top of the IPL 2022 points table.

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Pandya's unbeaten 52-ball 87 helped Titans to amass a healthy 192 for four in Navi Mumbai.

Later, the Gujarat bowling attack blitzed their rivals midway through the Royals innings, that included a spell of 1 for 18 by the flamboyant skipper.

The Baroda all-rounder's belligerent knock with the bat drove the Titans to a strong position after a difficult start, falling just five runs short of recording his best IPL showing with a knock of 87.

Things looked bleak for the Titans when they saw their top order dominated early on, but Hardik's magnificent innings helped them put up a total beyond the reach of the Royals.

It was only recently that ace Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh had spoken as to how captaincy had made Hardik a better cricketer.

And his performances in IPL 2022 is just a pointer in the case.

For the records, it was Hardik's second consecutive half-century in IPL 2022.

On Thursday night, he put the Royals attack to the sword with his blistering knock which came off just 52 balls and had eight hits to the ropes and six over it. Way to go Hardik!