IPL 2023: 'This is going to be his legacy as a skipper' - Sunil Gavaskar's verdict on captain Hardik Pandya

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IPL 2023: Sunil Gavaskar has heaped rich praises on Hardik Pandya's captaincy after the 29-year-old led Gujarat Titans (GT) to a seven-wicket victory against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Saturday. With the win, Gujarat dethroned Rajasthan Royals (RR) to occupy the top spot in the ten-team table.

Gavaskar has reckoned that Hardik is not trying to impose his personality on the team, adding that the same would be his legacy as captain. He also stated that Hardik was similar to Chennai Super Kings (CSK) captain MS Dhoni in his approach as the leader of the group.

"Sometimes the captains try to keep their personality and the team's personality the same. The personality of the captain and the team could be different. Hardik is not trying to impose his personality on the team. That's what Hardik is doing with GT. This is going to be his legacy as a skipper," Gavaskar told Star Sports.

"He's very similar to MS Dhoni in his approach as captain and imbibed the good qualities from his former India skipper," he added about Hardik who led GT to title triumph in their maiden IPL campaign last year.

Hardik's captaincy has earned a lot of praise from his teammates as well. All-rounder Vijay Shankar, who smashed unbeaten 51 runs off 24 balls against KKR, on Saturday said that he is always up for challenge and looking to tackle problems in an aggressive fashion.

“Hardik is really aggressive. He wants to find a way to come out good in difficult situations. He always wants to do it for the team. He takes the new ball. He has delivered it when we needed the wicket of Rohit Sharma against Mumbai Indians,” said Shankar.

Notably, Shankar is one of the players who has flourished under Hardik's captaincy at Gujarat. The likes of David Miller, Shubman Gill, Wriddhiman Saha, Rahul Tewatia and Mohit Sharma are a few other star cricketers who rose in stature at the Ahmedabad-based franchise.