Asia Cup 2022: "Such players are needed in the team"- Kiran More hails resurgent Hardik Pandya

Former Indian wicketkeeper and selector Kiran More has been highly impressed with the way Hardik Pandya has contributed to the Indian team of late with both bat and ball.

The all-rounder had a poor 2021 T20 World Cup and many started questioning his place in the team as he wasn't contributing in both departments. Pandya took time away from the game, worked on his fitness, and came back with a bang, leading the Gujarat Titans to their maiden IPL title.

His captaincy was so impressive that he also led the Men in Blue in the T20I series against Ireland and the last T20I against West Indies. Speaking to Star Sports, here's what More had to say about the 28-year-old's comeback:

"The way Hardik Pandya has got back in form, bowling to 140-147 km. When the captain gets such a player in the team who can bowl 4 overs and take wickets as well as gets runs for the team and a finisher as well, such players are needed in the team."

Hardik Pandya had opened up about being India's future captain

Pandya was asked in the post-match presentation after India's 4-1 win over West Indies whether he would like to become the full-time captain in the future. Although he wanted to focus on the present, here's what he stated:

"Yeah! why not? If I get an opportunity in the future, I'll be more than happy to do that, but right now we have the World Cup, and we have the Asia Cup (coming up). We're going to focus on that and make sure as a team what we're doing, we continue (with that) and make sure that all the skillsets, which we are learning we can keep getting better at it, and at the same point of time enjoy the game as well."

India's Asia Cup 2022 squad: Rohit Sharma (C), KL Rahul (VC), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant (WK), Dinesh Karthik (WK), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravi Bishnoi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan.

Reserves: Shreyas Iyer, Deepak Chahar and Axar Patel.