Kolkata: After leading Gujarat Titans to the IPL 2022 final in their debut season, skipper Hardik Pandya said that he is trying to be neutral and doesn’t have much feeling at the moment.
Excellent knocks by David Miller (68 not out off 38) and Hardik (40 not out off 27) led Gujarat Titans to the final of IPL 2022 in their debut season with a convincing seven-wicket win over Rajasthan Royals in Qualifier 1 at the iconic Eden Gardens on Tuesday.
Miller and skipper Hardik batted sensibly and stitched an unbeaten partnership of 106 runs for the fourth wicket. Gujarat will now play the final at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad in front of a large crowd.
According to Hardik, his son, wife, and brother have played a massive role in allowing him to get neutral in his life.
“I’ve started to balance things in my life. Has been a constant effort through the last couple of years. In the end, my family, my son, my wife, and my brother as well have played a big role. They kind of allowed me to get neutral in life. I look forward to going home and spending some time with family, and that’s made me a better cricketer as well. Don’t have much feeling right now. Trying to be neutral again I’ll say,” the Gujarat skipper said at the post-match presentation.
The skipper also praised Rashid Khan and David Miller for vital contributions with the ball and bat respectively.
“It’s all about making sure we respect this game. Rash (Rashid) has been fantastic throughout the season and throughout his cricketing journey. But I’m proud of Miller — the way we have played,” he said.
The star all-rounder also mentioned that his team has different characters and they bring different things to the table.
“All the 23 players are different characters, bringing different things to the table. Was saying to Miller as well, if you have good people around you, you get good things. It’s been that story for us,” he said.
“The kind of people we have, the genuine human beings we have… I genuinely see even the players in the dugout are trying and praying for them to make sure they do well. That is something fantastic and that is the reason we have reached where we have reached. It’s all about making sure we respect this game,” he added.
Talking about his own batting position, Hardik said he prefers to bat wherever his team requires him to play.
“Wherever my team requires me to play, I don’t generally demand where I want to bat. That’s not how I’ve got success. I’ve got success by playing for the team, no matter how scratchy I look, how good I look, irrelevant for me. The batting order we’ve had — we’ve had to make sure everyone chips in. We appreciate those 10s, 15s, 20s,” Pandya concluded.
(IANS)
