01 April,2023 08:27 AM IST | Ahmedabad | IANS
Zaheer Khan and Hardik Pandya
Former India left-arm fast-bowler Zaheer Khan showered praise on Hardik Pandya for his all-round versatility, calling him as an ideal impact player. Pandya burst on the scene in IPL 2015 when he shined for Mumbai Indians in their title-winning run.
After winning three more trophies with the side, Pandya then went on to lead the Gujarat Titans to their maiden IPL title in their debut season.
"If you talk about an impact player, Hardik is the ideal impact player. In the situation where he bats, at number five or six, it is not easy, especially in this format where you have to use the last three or four overs to bat at a particular strike rate, while facing ten to twelve deliveries.
"That's his specialty. His hand speed is exceptional and for a batter to have that hand speed and catch the ball, very few players can actually do that. Even when bowling, he can bowl at any phase, he is an all-phase bowler which is an asset," Zaheer was quoted as saying by Sports18.
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Zaheer also hailed Pandya's ability to be an intelligent captain who takes advice from experienced people around him, citing his relationship with Gujarat head coach Ashish Nehra.
Also read: Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya move up in ICC ODI rankings
"If you look at the previous IPL, what we saw was that Hardik had never captained before. That was an advantage for Ashish Nehra as well because when you haven't been a captain before, you want to learn the most about it."
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