Yusuf Pathan showers praise on Hardik Pandya after Wankhade win over Sri Lanka
Hardik Pandya is leading India in absence of Rohit Sharma
The stocks of Hardik Pandya have suddenly raised after the allrounder clinched the IPL title for Gujarat Titans in their maiden attempt.
Since then, he has been performing consistently for the Men in Blues as well, while his two best of-late performances have come against Pakistan in two of the most crunch matches of all time.
There's also a wave rushing about giving Hardik the reigns of India's T20I captaincy, but that's a whole different story.
Coming in support of the 29-year-old, former Indian cricketer and his Baroda senior Yusuf Pathan has spoken about the rise of Hardik Pandya.
While talking to OneCricket's correspondent Vimal Kumar, Pathan said:
"When we (Yusuf and Irfan Pathan) used to talk about Hardik and Krunal (Pandya) in the selection committee in Baroda, people used to get against us. But we had a believe in them that we rise will do good for India. They were obviously very talented and we saw that very earlier. Irfan was also mightily impressed with them. And we used to endorse them as future India cricketers."
The former Indian allrounder also mentioned Deepak Hooda and Bhargav Bhatt - who went on to play for King XI Punjab (now called Punjab Kings).
"We always used to endorse them, many such budding talents like Deepak Hooda and Bhargav Bhatt. Their rise obviously gives us a feeling of pride," Pathan concluded.
After bagging the first win of the year at Wankhede, India will lock horns with Sri Lanka on Thursday in the second T20I in Pune, before they sum up the series in Rajkot on Saturday.
Read More: Deepak Hooda should regularly be batted No. 6 or 7 - Gautam Gambhir
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