Indian Premier League: Decoding Hardik Pandya's captaincy stats
In a recent development, Mumbai Indians have appointed Hardik Pandya as their new captain for the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 season. Hardik was traded back by MI from Gujarat Titans for a hefty price. He will take over the reins from Rohit Sharma as MI's new captain. As a leader, Pandya helped GT win the IPL 2022. We decode his stats.
Why does this story matter?
With Rohit at the end of his career, MI responded first by getting Pandya back. They had a clear idea of handing him the captaincy role once the deal was completed. MI saw Pandya as Rohit's successor and wanted to ensure a smooth transition like they managed several times in the past. Under Rohit, MI reached five IPL finals and won all of them.
Two consistent seasons as captain of GT
GT signed Hardik as their marquee player and made him captain instantly. He led a brilliant team to their maiden IPL crown in their inaugural year in the competition. They defeated Rajasthan Royals by seven wickets to win the historic trophy. Hardik led his team to another IPL final in 2023 but fell short against Mahendra Singh Dhoni's Chennai Super Kings.
A look at Hardik's record as captain in IPL
The 30-year-old all-rounder has captained GT in 31 IPL matches while registering 22 victories. The Titans have suffered only nine defeats under his leadership with an impressive win percentage of 70.97%. In both seasons, GT topped the 10-team standings with 20 points. In 2022, they won Qualifier 1 and the final. In 2023, they lost Qualifier 1 before winning Qualifier 2 before the final.
Second-highest runs for Gujarat Titans
Hardik was a very consistent performer for the Titans as he amassed 833 runs from 31 IPL matches at an average of 37.86. The all-rounder slammed six fifties in the competition while maintaining a decent strike rate of 133.49 Only Shubman Gill has scored more runs for GT with 1,373 runs in IPL. The 30-year-old also scalped 11 wickets for GT at 40.90.
A look at Hardik's overall IPL numbers
The star all-rounder has amassed 2,309 runs from 123 IPL encounters at an average of 30.38. Hardik has hammered 10 fifties in the competition while claiming 53 wickets in total. He scored 487 runs in IPL 2022 for GT, which was his most in a single IPL season. Hardik has amassed 1,476 runs in 92 IPL matches for MI while scalping 42 wickets.
Hardik was traded to MI from GT
Last month, India's star all-rounder Hardik was officially traded to his former team MI. The official website of IPL confirmed the same on November 27. Notably, GT picked Pandya for a whopping sum of Rs. 15 crore in the players' draft before the 2022 IPL auction. Hence, he moved to MI for the same price. Pandya made his IPL debut in 2015 for MI.
