Hardik Pandya has been hailed by many as India’s next big Kapil Dev and to boost his chances in achieving that he has the backing of Virat Kohli and Anil Kumble, the men who matter. He has also been nominated as the captain of India A who takes on Australia today in a warm up game ahead of the big battle on the 23rd of February.
In an interview to reporters ahead of the clash he said, “It will be good opportunity for all of us, specially me to perform and get the opportunity to play in the Test series, it will be a good opportunity for the youngsters as well, who are there to show what they have”.
He also spoke about his ambitions, he said, “I will be pretty happy if I make a debut (in the series against Australia). As I said opportunity will come when it suppose to come. It is all about process and I am doing it right now.”
He also explained on his approach towards the game, he said, “We are not treating it as a practice game, it’s an opportunity for all of us to do something amazing and get recognised in the selectors eyes.”
The young all-rounder also spoke of the Australian team and what he reckoned, he added, “I have played against Australia A. This will be an amazing experience. Australians, you all know how they are and how aggressive they are, it will be nice competition for all of us”.
About his personal game he said, “I feel its a learning curve for me, I should be learning lots of things staying with the team and it always helps. I am improving my game day by day. That was the only reason that I thought I made a comeback after a poor IPL. I want to focus on improving my game”.
He also stated the importance of the men who matter, Virat Kohli, Anil Kumble, he said, “Definitely it helps a lot when someone like Virat bhai and Anil Sir (back me), it grows your confidence when two legends like them support, you know that your captain is backing you, it is always helpful. I am learning a lot of things from them and other players. It helps a lot.”
