The flamboyant all-rounder of Indian cricket, Hardik Pandya is widely known for his six-hitting ability. The strike-rate at which he scores runs grabs the maximum attention.
Recently, the Baroda cricketer who plays for Mumbai Indians (MI) in the Indian Premier League (IPL), participated in a candid interview hosted by veteran commentator Harsha Bhogle.
During the conversation, Hardik was asked several questions and the right-handed power-striker responded to them with much ease. Coming from a humble background, Hardik had played traditional ‘Gully Cricket’ during his early days. Harsha brought up the topic and asked Hardik to pick six-players in his ‘Gully Cricket’ team.
Hardik was given a list of five players to choose an opener. The list included players such as Rohit Sharma, David Warner, Chris Gayle, KL Rahul and Quinton de Kock. Rather than going for his MI captain, the 26-year-old went with West Indies batsman Gayle. Hardik revealed that he is a big fan of the Caribbean giant and that’s why he selected him.
Anchor Harsha also asked Hardik whether he is planning to settle down in Jamaica or Trinidad after retirement, to which the all-rounder denied, but the Surat-born did mention that he likes the confidence that the West Indies players bring on to the field.
The next two picks in Hardik’s team came in a flash as he went with current India captain Virat Kohli and former India skipper MS Dhoni.
Hardik was also provided the names of Andre Russell, Ravindra Jadeja and Ben Stokes to pick an all-rounder in his team. The swashbuckling hitter then went with another Caribbean, Russell.
For the remaining two spots, Hardik selected two of his Mumbai Indians’ teammates, Krunal Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah.
Earlier, during the same chat, Hardik was asked to disclose his all-time IPL XI. He named Dhoni as the leader of the team. For the openers, Hardik went with Gayle and Rohit. Similarly, for the middle-order, Hardik picked Kohli and AB de Villiers. He also named Bumrah and Lasith Malinga as seamers in his all-time IPL XI.
