Hardik Pandya in action
Hardik Pandya has admitted that the responsibility of leading a team brings out the best in him on a cricket field after he was named skipper of Gujarat Titans in their debut season of IPL.
Hardik is named as a captain of the Indian squad for the two-match T20I series against Ireland, starting Sunday.
The matches are scheduled for 26th June and 28th June.
The all-rounder believes in taking ownership while in the field.
"Earlier also, I liked taking up responsibility and now also it is the same but it is a bit more responsibility now. I always believed that I did better when I took responsibility," Hardik said.
"If I can take ownership of my own things and take my own decisions, they tend to be strong. Cricket is such a game, staying strong during situations is very important.
"Always responsibility was given to me and I took it and that's why I became better. While captaining I will see how I can give the same responsibility to every player and give them the ability to fight with situations," he added.
While talking about the learnings from MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli, he said every captain has their own style.
"Obviously I have taken a lot of things from them (Dhoni and Kohli) but at the same time I also want to be myself, obviously my understanding of the game is different but I have taken a lot of good vibes from them.
"I am not instinctive but I see more situations than go on my gut. At what point in time, what decision the team requires, I focus on that rather than going on my gut. Gut always goes 50-50," he said.
"I have got an opportunity to lead India. It's in itself a big thing. I don't play the sport to show anyone anything if I am good enough. I was always the same."
Full squad:
India squad for Ireland T20I series: Hardik Pandya (c), Bhuvneshwar Kumar (vc), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Sanju Samson, Rahul Tripathi, Deepak Hooda, Venkatesh Iyer, Axar Patel, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Avesh Khan, Harshal Patel, Umran Malik, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravi Bishnoi
(Inputs from PTI)
