“He is definitely the one to watch out for,” Ricky Ponting had said about young Hardik Pandya during the course of the tournament as Pandya went about hogging the limelight with his power-packed strokeplay. Pandya time and again showed the knack of getting quick runs. Even if it were a 20 or 30, those runs were sure to have come at a quick pace.

After a series of fiery knocks, it was his maniac unbeaten 61 against Kolkata Knight Riders that made everyone take notice. Ten days after that knock, Pandya was on the field at the Eden Gardens with some of the best in the business, reeling under his maiden IPL win. Words could not do justice to his feelings; Pandya had a glint of joy in his eyes and he still couldn’t believe what had just happened.

“It couldn’t get bigger and better than this,” an elated Pandya told iplt20.com. “Playing my first season and ending up on the winning side is an outstanding feeling.

I am very happy at the moment because I feel in some way I have also contributed towards the team’s success. It is an amazing feeling.”An unknown commodity got eyebrows up with his big hitting capabilities the first time he walked out at the Chinnaswamy Stadium with a bat in his hand.

He had thrashed two sixes into the crowd with such dominance that it was almost like a trailer of the big picture to come. The big one did come against KKR in a crucial encounter and Pandya believes that knock will be the one he would cherish for a long time. “I have been hitting the ball that way since I was 19.

I was always fond of hitting the big sixes and I am happy I could get that aspect of my game to the fore in the IPL. It is that knock against KKR that I am going to cherish for a long time.” Not just that knock, Pandya had a lot more to cherish and take back memories of; and that was lessons from Mumbai Indians coach Ricky Ponting.

“We have a legendary team and I have learnt so many things from them. I have learnt a lot from Ricky Ponting and I take back a lot of lessons from him. I have not pondered much about the future and have just been at the present.

I have managed to keep things simple. It has been a wonderful season for me and I can say I have relished each and every moment of it.”Pandya is at a loss of words describing his IPL win and believes the tournament will change a lot of things for him.

“I am just about beginning my cricketing career and this win is right up there. It is not every day that you play an IPL and go on to play in an IPL final. Being a part of an IPL winning team is going to be at the top of my list in my cricketing career for a long time.

I guess life will be changing for me after this. As a cricketer as well this experience with the Mumbai Indians will change the way I look at the game. Hopefully this is just the beginning and I have lots more to look forward to in the future.

” .

Source: http://www.iplt20.com/news/2015/features/6955/want-to-take-eden-gardens-home-rohit