NEW DELHI: Hardik Pandya‘s struggles began in the previous year during a ODI World Cup match against Bangladesh, but the talented all-rounder never lost faith in the adage that “fortune favours the brave if they hang around.”
A series of unfortunate events followed, starting with consecutive injuries that forced him to miss four months of action.
Subsequently, he endured a turbulent two-month period as the captain of Mumbai Indians in the IPL, leaving India’s premier all-rounder in recent times without a glimmer of hope.However, the T20 World Cup marked a turning point, as Pandya rediscovered his form and confidence.
“I have been fortunate to play for the country, it was a freak injury I had, I wanted to come back but God had other plans,” Pandya said, as quoted by PTI, after scoring a 27-ball-50 and taking a wicket in India’s 50-run victory over Bangladesh.
During a previous World Cup encounter with Bangladesh, Pandya unfortunately suffered an injury that forced him to leave the field. The format of that particular tournament differed from the current one.
“I was speaking to our coach Rahul sir (Dravid) and he said ‘Luck comes to people who work hard’ and that has stuck with me for a long time,” Pandya, who won the Player of the Match award this day, said.
“We have played really good cricket. More than anything we have stuck together and executed our plans.”
Pandya’s impressive half-century, along with valuable contributions from Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, and Shivam Dube, propelled India to a competitive total of 196 for 5 after they were asked to bat first.
Kohli scored 37 runs, while Pant and Dube chipped in with 36 and 34 runs respectively, providing solid support to Pandya’s innings.
At the interval, Pandya expressed confidence in the team’s total, stating, He had predicted at the break that it would be enough.
“Wicket looked alright, par would’ve been 180, we got 196. That’s a good score here,” Pandya told broadcasters at the innings break.
“At the point Shivam went (in), a couple of wickets were lost. He had to take his time and we did well to recover. His strength is to take down spinners.
“When the time came, when we could go hard, we went (after their bowling) after that,” Pandya said.
The star all-rounder held the opinion that as the game wore on, the playing surface would gradually lose its pace.
“Definitely it tends to get slower in the end, some balls were sliding down when bowled at the right length, discipline and good bowling should do the job.”
At the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, strong crosswinds were prevalent throughout the day. Pandya discussed his strategy of utilizing the wind to his advantage during the match.
“I did realise the batters wanted to use the breeze, I made sure I did not give them a chance where the wind was blowing, it was about being one step ahead as a batter.”
Pandya acknowledged that the batting unit has areas where they can enhance their performance.
“We as a group can get better in a lot of places, losing wickets in bunches is something we can rectify and get better at, apart from that, we are looking good.”
Ashwin’s take on individual scores
Meanwhile, senior off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin expressed his views on the changing perception of batting performances. He emphasized that in the current cricketing landscape, it is crucial for fans to appreciate the value of impactful innings of 20 or 30 runs, rather than solely focusing on milestone scores like half-centuries or centuries.
“We are not used to an approach where batsmen throw it away after making 30’s 20’s, but it is about time we embrace an approach like this especially while batting first.
“Top Intent from all the Indian batters so far,” Ashwin wrote on X about India reaching nearly 200 with just a single half-century and three contributions upwards of 30.
A series of unfortunate events followed, starting with consecutive injuries that forced him to miss four months of action.
Subsequently, he endured a turbulent two-month period as the captain of Mumbai Indians in the IPL, leaving India’s premier all-rounder in recent times without a glimmer of hope.However, the T20 World Cup marked a turning point, as Pandya rediscovered his form and confidence.
“I have been fortunate to play for the country, it was a freak injury I had, I wanted to come back but God had other plans,” Pandya said, as quoted by PTI, after scoring a 27-ball-50 and taking a wicket in India’s 50-run victory over Bangladesh.
During a previous World Cup encounter with Bangladesh, Pandya unfortunately suffered an injury that forced him to leave the field. The format of that particular tournament differed from the current one.
“I was speaking to our coach Rahul sir (Dravid) and he said ‘Luck comes to people who work hard’ and that has stuck with me for a long time,” Pandya, who won the Player of the Match award this day, said.
“We have played really good cricket. More than anything we have stuck together and executed our plans.”
Pandya’s impressive half-century, along with valuable contributions from Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, and Shivam Dube, propelled India to a competitive total of 196 for 5 after they were asked to bat first.
Kohli scored 37 runs, while Pant and Dube chipped in with 36 and 34 runs respectively, providing solid support to Pandya’s innings.
At the interval, Pandya expressed confidence in the team’s total, stating, He had predicted at the break that it would be enough.
“Wicket looked alright, par would’ve been 180, we got 196. That’s a good score here,” Pandya told broadcasters at the innings break.
“At the point Shivam went (in), a couple of wickets were lost. He had to take his time and we did well to recover. His strength is to take down spinners.
“When the time came, when we could go hard, we went (after their bowling) after that,” Pandya said.
The star all-rounder held the opinion that as the game wore on, the playing surface would gradually lose its pace.
“Definitely it tends to get slower in the end, some balls were sliding down when bowled at the right length, discipline and good bowling should do the job.”
At the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, strong crosswinds were prevalent throughout the day. Pandya discussed his strategy of utilizing the wind to his advantage during the match.
“I did realise the batters wanted to use the breeze, I made sure I did not give them a chance where the wind was blowing, it was about being one step ahead as a batter.”
Pandya acknowledged that the batting unit has areas where they can enhance their performance.
“We as a group can get better in a lot of places, losing wickets in bunches is something we can rectify and get better at, apart from that, we are looking good.”
Ashwin’s take on individual scores
Meanwhile, senior off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin expressed his views on the changing perception of batting performances. He emphasized that in the current cricketing landscape, it is crucial for fans to appreciate the value of impactful innings of 20 or 30 runs, rather than solely focusing on milestone scores like half-centuries or centuries.
“We are not used to an approach where batsmen throw it away after making 30’s 20’s, but it is about time we embrace an approach like this especially while batting first.
“Top Intent from all the Indian batters so far,” Ashwin wrote on X about India reaching nearly 200 with just a single half-century and three contributions upwards of 30.
