Hardik Pandya credits Ashish Nehra for his success as captain

Pandya
was
first
handed
the
Indian
captaincy
in
June
last
year,
when
he
led
the
team
to
2-0
series
win
in
Ireland
followed
by
a
1-0
series
win
in
New
Zealand.
Now,
he
has
led
Team
India
to
a
2-1
series
win
over
Sri
Lanka.

Coming
back
from
a
long
injury
layoff,
the
premier
all-rounder
was
made
the
Gujarat
Titans
skipper
in
a
bold
move
by
the
first-timers,
and
he
led
them
to
an
IPL
triumph
in
their
maiden
appearance
last
year.

Pandya
had
led
only
once
at
senior
level
in
a
tour
game
against
Australia,
but
has
done
well
as
the
skipper
thanks
to
his
stint
at
Gujarat
Titans,
where
he
won
11
of
his
15
matches
as
captain.

In
his
8
matches
as
captain
of
India,
Pandya
has
won
6,
lost
once
and
tied
once.
The
29-year-old,
who
has
a
good
record
as
a
skipper
so
far,
has
revealed
Nehra
has
played
a
huge
role
in
his
role
as
a
captain.

“What
has
been
very
important
from
Gujarat
point
of
view
is
the
kind
of
coach
I
worked
with.
Ashish
Nehra
made
a
big
difference
in
my
life,
because
of
our
mindsets.
We
might
be
two
different
personalities,
but
we
have
very
similar
cricketing
thoughts,”
Pandya
said
after
India
clinched
the
T20I
series
against
Sri
Lanka.

“Because
I
was
with
him,
it
added
value
to
my
captaincy.
It
helped
me
to
get
exactly
what
I
know.
It
was
just
about
getting
that
assurance,
once
I
got
that…
the
awareness
of
this
game
I
always
knew.
It
was
all
about
knowing
and
backing
what
I
knew
already.
It
has
definitely
helped
me,”
he
added.

Before
the
home
series
against
Sri
Lanka,
the
Indian
selectors
overhauled
the
side
after
the
Rohit
Sharma-led
team
failed
to
win
the
T20
World
Cup
2022
in
Australia,
losing
to
eventual
champions
England
in
the
semifinal.

Prior
to
the
Sri
Lanka
series,
Pandya
had
led
India’s
T20I
side
whenever
Rohit
was
unavailable
and
the
29-year-old
revealed
that
he
has
never
been
captain
of
a
team
even
in
junior
level.

“I’ve
never
led
in
junior
cricket
as
well.
When
I
was
under-16
I
led
Baroda.
After
that
everyone
thought
that
I
should
focus
on
my
game.
Since
then,
I’ve
not
led
(a
side),”
Pandya
added.

(With
PTI
inputs)