'He's a great player' - Gary Kirsten on Hardik Pandya

Ahmedabad franchise’s batting coach and team mentor, Gary Kirsten has said that he’s looking forward to being back in the IPL and working with Hardik Pandya. He, however, believes that Hardik will be very “motivated” to prove himself as a captain. Notably, Hardik was roped in by the new franchise for Rs 15 cr as well.

“I am looking forward to working with Hardik as a young and new captain,” said Kirsten to Star Sports show ‘IPL: SELECTION DAY’ on Saturday (January 22). “I think he will be really motivated to come in and make a plan and show what he is capable of at this level of the game as a leader. He’s a great player. What I have heard is that he is really keen to get into the mix and get involved. I think he understands the importance of this tournament. What I have heard is that he is raring to go and get into the mix from a leadership perspective. So, I think that’s really exciting for us to have a player with such a level of skill, motivated to do well in this competition.”

However, Kirsten had been appointed as coach and mentor of the Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2019, taking over the reins from veteran Daniel Vettori. He was a batting coach for the 2018 season earlier along with Ashish Nehra, who was named bowling coach as well. And, the veteran South African has said that he was comfortable working along with Nehra and Vikram Solanki – the Director of Cricket at the franchise.

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He stated: “To be working alongside Ashish Nehra and Vikram Solanki, who I have worked with before. I think we are all very excited about the opportunity. My role, designation is team mentor and batting coach, so I am going to have my hands full with handling a lot of work at ground level, but essentially, just to be assisting players in preparing them to be the best versions of themselves and the team that they are going to play.

Gary Kirsten ALL SET TO WORK WITH HARDIK PANDYA

“I love the coaching and I am really looking forward to the role. I have journeyed a lot through IPL, of four years. I’ve been involved in a lot of short format matches and got a decent understanding of what a team needs to do, how you need to find that winning flow, which is a priority in IPL,” Gary Kirsten again shared.

However, along with Hardik Pandya, Ahmedabad picked up Rashid Khan and Shubman Gill for 15 cr and 8 cr respectively as well. While Rashid played for the Sunrisers Hyderabad, Gill has played for Kolkata Knight Riders as well.

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“I am really excited by both of them. They are both high performers – Rashid Khan has gone around the world, proven his value anywhere, so that’s an incredible signing for us. I am very excited to work with him – I haven’t yet – but I have seen him a lot, have met him few times, but have never really worked with him. So, I am looking forward to that. Certainly, watching him on the field, he’s a very competitive, young man that wants to do well for the franchise that he’s been involved in,” he said.

Gill is a fantastic player, who, in my view, should be playing for India. He is on the verge of that and has played already. With great flair and instinct for the game, he could be a match-winner on his own. From a batting perspective, I am looking forward to working with him and helping him give the best out of an IPL season,” Gary Kirsten concluded.