'He gets the best out of me' - Hardik Pandya hails GT head coach Ashish Nehra

Gujarat Titans skipper Hardik Pandya lavished praises on head coach Ashish Nehra for helping to get the best out of him and mentioned enjoying his company as well. The new franchise has been on a fantastic run so far in the tournament with ten wins in 14 games and finished atop the points table in the league stages.

They went one step further by clinching the Qualifier 1 against the Rajasthan Royals and the Hardik Pandya-led side will now play the same side again in the finals on May 29 at the Narendra Modi Stadium. Nehra has been an integral part of the coaching setup in terms of providing insights to skipper Hardik and also backing the talents on the side on a longer basis. The combination of Hardik and Nehra has worked out really so far and the results are there to see as well.

Our cricketing minds work in a similar fashion: Hardik Pandya

Hardik Pandya revealed he and his brother had a chat ahead of the season on how Nehra knows the strengths and weaknesses of the former. He noted about enjoying the company of Nehra so far and highlighted their similar cricketing minds as well. The all-rounder also mentioned about the importance of the support staff and noted how Nehra has worked with each of the individuals in the dressing room so far.

“I and my brother (Krunal) were having a chat before we sign. I said, someone who can understand me and know me as a person and kind of get the best out of me would be Ashish Nehra. So for me, playing and spending so much time with him is always fun and I’ve always enjoyed his company no matter what,” Hardik was quoted as saying by TOI.

“Our cricketing minds work in a similar fashion. He is someone who spends so much time looking after people (and) that is fantastic quality. He makes sure he gives ample time to every individual. Ashu Pa (Nehra) and a lot of credit goes to the support staff to make sure that the outside environment is pretty chilled out and all that,” he added.