Former Indian player compares Hardik Pandya to MS Dhoni

The Indian T20 League 2022 concluded with Gujarat lifting their maiden title in their debut season. The match at the Narendra Modi Stadium witnessed captain Hardik Pandya leading his team from the front. The all-rounder had a great game with the ball as he took three wickets in the game. He took the important wickets of Sanju Samson, Jos Buttler, and Shimron Hetmyer.

During the game, Pandya made several outstanding decisions on the field as well. For instance, he held back Sai Kishore for the death overs of the game, earning him two crucial wickets. To follow that up, he played a mature knock with the bat too. After a few early wickets, he batted at number four, scoring 34 runs to pull the side back in the game.

former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar now compared the all-rounder to MS Dhoni. He said that Pandya, like Dhoni, made judgments based on the game circumstances.

"Hardik Pandya bowled well. In batting too, he batted in all gears while playing at the crucial No.4 spot. He captained the team like MS Dhoni. R Sai Kishore bowled the 16th and 18th overs in the final. His captaincy was similar to MS Dhoni’s, as he made the decisions according to match situations. He seems to be enjoying the captaincy and looks very relaxed," Manjrekar told ESPNcricinfo.

Additionally, Pandya eclipsed Dhoni in terms of the number of Indian T20 League championships won. Pandya, who won the trophy four times with Mumbai (2015, 2017, 2019, and 2020), also won it with Gujarat, passing MS Dhoni, who has four titles (2010), (2011), 2018, and 2021).

As for the final match, Gujarat bowlers did well to restrict Rajasthan to a low total of 130. Jos Buttler worked extremely hard, but was unable to achieve enough. He was the highest run-scorer of the innings with 39 runs in 35 balls. During the second innings, The Hardik Pandya-led side then lost a couple of early wickets but recovered well. They batted brilliantly and secured a seven-wicket victory.