‘He's given me the biggest headache as England coach’ - Paul Collingwood extols ‘rockstar’ Hardik Pandya

Former England all-rounder and 2010 T20 World Cup-winning skipper, Paul Collingwood, heaped massive praise on Gujarat Titans skipper Hardik Pandya for his impressive leadership skills. Titans have contested in five matches thus far in the ongoing IPL 2023, winning three games and losing on two occasions.

Impressively, in 2022, Hardik Pandya led his side to glory, as Gujarat clinched their maiden IPL title in their debut season. However, after relishing a fine season last edition, the skipper is yet to deliver the goods for his side with the bat. Despite this, former England skipper, Paul Collingwood, praised the Gujarat-born cricketer for his leadership skills and added that he is a game-changer.

"Hardik Pandya is a rockstar and one of the most entertaining players. He leads from the front. He's given me the biggest headache as England coach when we played against India. He's someone who can change the complexion of the game with his performance and that's what makes him a threat to any opposition," said Collingwood on Star Sports.

In his four outings in the ongoing edition, Hardik has registered a string of low scores, aggregating 49 runs thus far. In his first three matches, he returned with scores of 8, 5, and 8 runs, respectively, and displayed some improvement in his last outing against Rajasthan Royals as he got 28 runs.

Gujarat Titans' inconsistency in IPL 2023 

Speaking about Gujarat’s campaign thus far, Hardik Pandya and Co. obtained two wins on the trot in their first two outings. However, in the last three matches, the Titans have suffered two losses and one win which puts them in fourth place with six points in the IPL points table.

In their most recent outing, the defending champions lost to the runners-up of the IPL 2022, Rajasthan Royals by three wickets. As the matches come thick and fast, Hardik Pandya’s Gujarat Titans will need to up the ante and get back to winning ways and climb up the points table.