Success of Indian captains in IPL augurs well for national team: Dravid

Hardik
Pandya
led
Gujarat
Titans
to
the
IPL
title
in
its
maiden
season
while
KL
Rahul,
Shreyas
Iyer,
and
Sanju
Samson
too
did
a
commendable
job
while
leading
their
respective
franchises
in
the
Indian
Premier
League
(IPL).

Rahul
led
new
entrants
Lucknow
Super
Giants
to
the
playoffs
in
their
maiden
season
and
Samson
impressed
with
his
captaincy
as
he
took
Rajasthan
Royals
to
a
runners-up
finish
this
season.

“It
is
great
that
we
have
a
lot
of
Indian
captains
doing
well.
Hardik
was
one
of
them.
Brilliant.
KL
did
a
good
job
at
LSG
and
Sanju
in
RR.
Shreyas
in
KKR,”
Dravid
said
at
a
press
conference.

“It
is
really
great
to
see
the
young
batters
leading
the
team.
It
helps
people
grow
and
develop
as
players,
having
to
lead
teams
to
make
the
decisions.
It
helps
you
grow
as
a
person
and
as
a
player.
It
is
great
from
our
perspective
that
the
younger
Indian
players
are
leading
well
in
the
IPL,”
he
added.

India
are
set
to
lock
horns
with
South
Africa
in
a
five-match
T20
series
starting
here
on
Thursday.
Several
new
faces
have
been
named
in
the
Indian
squad
while
the
series
is
also
set
to
feature
Pandya
and
Dinesh
Karthik,
who
make
a
comeback
after
stellar
IPL
campaigns.

Pandya,
who
struggled
with
a
back
and
was
dropped
from
the
team
after
team’s
disappointing
group-round
exit
from
the
T20
World
Cup
last
year,
returned
to
competitive
cricket
in
the
IPL.
He
played
a
key
role
in
Titans’ success,
contributing
with
the
bat
and
the
ball,
something
that
the
Indian
team
had
missed
desperately
during
the
World
Cup
last
year.

“It
is
really
pleasing
to
have
him
back.
Hardik
at
his
best
is
a
fantastic
cricketer
with
both
bat
and
ball.
He’s
been
very
successful
in
white-ball
cricket
and
has
shown
some
really
good
form
in
this
IPL
as
well,”
Dravid
said.

The
former
Indian
cricketer
was
impressed
by
the
Baroda
player’s
captaincy
skills,
adding
that
they
are
working
at
utilising
Pandya’s
full
potential
for
India.
“His
leadership
was
very
impressive
in
the
IPL
and
he
performed
well.
You
don’t
have
to
be
designated
as
a
leader
to
be
part
of
the
leadership
group.

“At
this
point
of
time
from
our
perspective
it
is
a
positive
that
he
has
started
bowling
again.
It
is
really
about
ensuring
that
we
can
get
the
best
out
of
him
as
a
cricketer
in
terms
of
contributions.”