"Wanted me to make my own mistakes and learn" - Hardik Pandya on how MS Dhoni groomed him

India's star all-rounder Hardik Pandya is set for his first captaincy stint in the Indian Premier League (IPL) with the new Ahmedabad franchise. Seen mostly as a care-free individual, how he approaches leadership is something many are waiting to see.

Hardik, of course, had several players who influenced and helped groom him when he was a young player and one of them was former India captain MS Dhoni. The all-rounder credits Dhoni for consistently backing him from the time he entered the national team setup.

Speaking to Boria Majumdar on his show 'Backstage with Boria', the all-rounder said:

"Obviously, I learned a lot from everyone, especially Mahi bhai. When I went there, I was a raw material. The way he groomed me, the way he gave me a lot of freedom basically. He wanted me to make my own mistakes and learn."

He said he expected Dhoni to guide him when he was new to the team, but was surprised when the wicketkeeper-batter had little to say.

"I generally thought that, you know, in First Class cricket you have a senior guy who guides you in all the matches. I think 99.9 per cent of people have come up to the Indian team in that sort of culture. When I came there I was like ‘Mahendra Singh Dhoni is there, everything will be looked after’. But that time I thought why Mahi bhai is not saying a lot of things. I thought he would tell me ‘bowl here, bowl there, bowl there’."

However, he went on to add:

"But later on, in the years to come, I realised that he actually wanted me to learn on my own so I can survive more and harden. I can learn on my own."

Hardik Pandya recalls when MS Dhoni backed him during difficult debut

Hardik Pandya made his India debut in a T20 International (T20I) against Australia in Adelaide in 2016.

While he did not get the chance to bat, he ended up giving 19 runs in his first over with the ball.

Speaking about the experience, Hardik said:

"Obviously at that point of time I did not realise, because I was on the back foot. Because I remember that I was the first guy who on debut gave 22 or 24 runs and I genuinely thought in my mind that it was my first game and last game."

However, MS Dhoni backed him and he bowled two more overs and got the wickets of Chris Lynn and Matthew Wade.

Speaking about his former captain, Hardik said:

"But when he called me for a second over, maybe he wanted to see how I can swim in deep waters. When he called me, I was standing at extra cover, looking back and I was like ‘Me?’ Then I went and obviously things changed."

He said about his takeaway from the match:

"So what I learned from him is that, he never showed you he was there, but he was always there behind the scenes. Not on the field -- there he wanted me to be rough, wanted me to be learning things -- but behind, I knew that he was always standing there and making sure that this guy gets groomed."

Hardik Pandya will look to take some lessons from Dhoni when he leads Ahmedabad in IPL 2022.

Along with Hardik, the franchise picked Rashid Khan and Shubman Gill ahead of the IPL 2022 auction.