IPL’s new franchise Gujrat Titans will open their tournament campaign on Monday against Lucknow Super Giants while franchise skipper Hardik Pandya revealed the players he wants to emulate as captain.
India all-rounder Hardik Pandya has played the Indian Premier League (IPL) for Mumbai Indians in the past edition but now he will lead the new IPL franchise Gujrat Titans in the ongoing tournament.
The IPL has kicked off on March 26 and the Gujrat Titans will open their tournament campaign against the Lucknow Super Giants, before the match, Hardik named the players he wants to emulate while trying to take his franchise to furthest glory.
“Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking, captain Hardik Pandya. I am not going to tell you where I came from, you probably know that. I will tell you where I am taking you off to, it is towards that peak called sporting success. That sweet lofty spot where grit lives with the grind, labor leads to luck. It is a range that my brother (MS Dhoni) has scaled and I have made no attempts to hide that I want to emulate him,”
said Hardik in a video posted on the official Twitter handle of Gujarat Titans.
“It is a place that my hero (Sachin Tendulkar) has owned and told me stories of how he got there. It is a journey that will sometimes pit me against my sibling, my soulmate, and many of my closest friends. And like every flight, this journey might also have turbulence,”
he stated further.
In the video Hardik also addressed the controversy surrounding his appearance on ‘Koffee With Karan’, saying,
“If I have a survived a national storm, a ban, and grueling back injury and more, I know what it takes. Confidence, flamboyance, whatever you term it, I just know when I walk in with bat in my hand, my opponents get tiny little chills in their spine knowing that I can pull off a heist from anywhere.”
“And here’s the best part, I am shaping a whole team to be like that. Will we falter? Of course, but we will go back and toil harder,”
he added.
Ahead of the IPL 2022 mega auction, newly franchised Gujrat Titans appointed selected Hardik Pandya, Rashid Khan, and Shubman Gill. Hardik was then assigned as the skipper of the franchise.
The IPL edition 2022 began on March 26 and in the tournament first match was played between Chennai Super Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders, KKR got the better of Chennai Super Kings.
Gujarat Titans Squad: Hardik Pandya (c), Shubman Gill, Rashid Khan, Mohammed Shami, Lockie Ferguson, Abhinav Sadarangani, Rahul Tewatia, Noor Ahmad, R Sai Kishore, Dominic Drakes, Jayant Yadav, Vijay Shankar, Darshan Nalkande, Yash Dayal, Alzarri Joseph, Pradeep Sangwan, David Miller, Wriddhiman Saha, Matthew Wade, Gurkeerat Singh, Varun Aaron, B Sai Sudarshan.
