Hardik Pandya was praised for his positive attitude and professionalism for gracefully accepting the leadership of Suryakumar Yadav by veteran Australian spinner Brad Hogg. Highlighting Hardik's maturity, Hogg stated that Pandya's acceptance of Suryakumar as captain has not only helped the team but also allowed Hardik to focus on his own game.
"I love the way he's (Hardik) accepted Suryakumar Yadav as the captain of this Indian team, but it's also helped his game as well. He's really starting to expand with the bat as well, showed his true form.
"He struggled a little bit through the last IPL, and we all know why, because there was a lot of pressure on him moving from Gujarat Titans to Mumbai Indians, but he's just shown his true class here," Hogg said on his YouTube channel.
Hogg also explained how having someone like Hardik adds depth to the Indian team.
"If you're going to be a dominant team in T20Is, you got to have your medium-pace all-rounders, and that's what Hardik brings. Even though he is a little bit more expensive than your conventional bowler, he still adds depth to your batting," he concluded.
After the blowing away Bangladesh, Suryakumar Yadav had also praised Pandya along with the Indian cricket team. "We've achieved a lot as a team. I want to have selfless cricketers in my team. We want to be a selfless team. As Hardik said, we want to enjoy each others' performance on the field, off the field, spend as much time as possible and that camaraderie is carrying on the field and we are having some fun. The chat around the team has been like that, Gauti bhai said the same at the start of the series and when we went to Sri Lanka as well, no one is bigger than the team," Yadav had said.