Former Indian team batsman VVS Laxman lauded all-rounder Hardik Pandya for exhibiting great leadership qualities. Laxman’s comments come after Pandya decided to handover his Player of the Series award to youngster T Natarajan.
Praising Pandya’s mature gesture, Laxman wrote on Twitter, “Excellent gesture from @hardikpandya7 Great to see him exhibiting qualities of a leader. Also feel very happy for @Natarajan_91. I have no doubt Nattu will continue to work hard and show improvement and progress in his craft. Good luck.”
T Natarajan has been phenomenal during India versus Australia ODI and T20I series’. It was the debutant’s debut in international cricket. Natarajan was picked up for the tour as an additional player for the tournaments. During the matches, it evidently how brilliantly he filled the gap left Mohammad Shami and Jasprit Bumrah’s absence. With his spectacular yorkers, he managed to dismiss 2 wickets in his first and only ODI appearance, while he scalped 6 wickets in the three T20Is. Natarajan rightfully earned the nickname ‘Yorker King’.
Hardik Pandya was very appreciative of his performance and said that he believed Natarajan deserved the award.
“I want people to believe in themselves and to achieve anything even if odds are against them. It’s just my way of appreciating his hard work over the years. For me, Natrajan deserves the Man of the Series award. To perform so brilliantly on his debut speaks volumes of his belief and the talent he possesses,” Hardik said while speaking to ANI.
“I thought Natarajan would have been Man of the Match. The other bowlers struggled and he really had a good game, he gave us a target about 10 runs lower than it would have been.”
The Indian team skipper Virat Kohli said on the youngster’s performance, “Natarajan special mention for him as in absence of Bumrah and Shami. He is been the guy who has stood up and really delivered under pressure. And it’s an outstanding fact that he playing his first game at the international level,” Kohli said in a virtual press-conference on Tuesday.
