IPL 2022 | Hardik Pandya is the junior version of MS Dhoni, opines R Sai Kishore

06/03/2022

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Gujarat Titans youngster R Sai Kishore has stated that Hardik Pandya is the junior version of MS Dhoni after winning IPL 2022 with the franchise under his leadership. Sai Kishore also added that Hardik has the knack of getting the best out of his players in captaincy similar to MS Dhoni.

In their debut season, Gujarat Titans won the IPL 2022 and scripted a memorable triumph. Hardik Pandya led a team for the first time in his career and helped them win the trophy. Hardik contributed with the bat and ball in the team’s title run. He has received praise from many former cricketers and pundits for his calm and composed leadership decisions in the tournament.

Left-arm spinner R Sai Kishore was also part of the team and he compared Hardik to MS Dhoni saying that the former is a junior version of the former Indian captain.

"I would call Hardik the junior version of Dhoni. There are a lot of similarities between the two. Much like Dhoni, Hardik has the knack of getting the best out of his players. Both put the team before themselves and that's what you expect from your leader," Sai Kishore told Times of India.

Sai Kishore had been in the CSK squad but didn’t get to play any match. He revealed that his game-reading skills flourished while bowling to MS Dhoni in the nets and interacting with him.

"Bowling to MS Dhoni at the nets and speaking to him about the game did a world of good for me. My game-reading skills have improved," he said.

\Sai Kishore picked six wickets from five matches in the IPL 2022 with an economy rate of 7.56.