Hardik Pandya has had it tough in recent months, enduring a forgettable 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL) both as captain and player with Mumbai Indians, who finished bottom of the points table.
Pandya was 10th among MI batters with a mere 216 runs from 14 matches at an average of 18 with no fifties. With the ball, Pandya took 11 wickets, at an economy rate of 10.75.
Hardik though is not willing to “run away from it” and says he will “keep working hard”.
“Eventually, I believe, you have to stay in the battle. Sometimes life puts you in situations where things are tough, but I believe that if you leave the game or the field, the battle that is, you won’t get what you want from your sport, or the results you are looking for. So, yeah, it has been difficult, but at the same time, I have been process-driven, I have tried to follow the same routines I used to follow earlier,” Hardik was quoted as saying to Star Sports, ahead of the 2024 T20 World Cup.
“At the same time these things happen; there are good times and bad times, these are phases that come and go. That is fine. I have gone through these phases many times and I will come out of it as well.”
“I don’t take my successes too seriously. Whatever I have done well, I have forgotten about them immediately and moved forward. Same with difficult times. I don’t run away from it. I face everything with [my] chin up,” he said.
“As they say, this too shall pass. So coming out [of these phases] is simple: just play the sport, accept that [you need to] maybe get better at your skillset, keep working hard – hard work never goes to waste – and keep smiling.”
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Hardik, who is the vice-captain of the Indian men’s cricket team at the T20 World, said he has a plan to get back to where he was.
“I am in that zone right now [where] I am going and asking the 16-year-old [self] – because he is my actual motivator, because if that guy hadn’t set the platform I probably wouldn’t have been here”
“I think it comes down to self-belief,” he said. “I believe a lot in hard work. You can succeed only if you put in the effort for it. I want to give myself the opportunity to… why do I prepare and commit myself every time? The only reason is that while I am not guaranteed success, I am guaranteed an opportunity to be successful. I focus simply on how do I keep getting better. Speak to myself. Try to know my real version.
“Hardik Pandya right now at 30 is a much, much easier job compared to what Hardik Pandya was when I was 16. So I go back to the 16-year-old and I ask him how did you do it, why did you do it?
“At that point of time, I didn’t have facilities or opportunities. Hard work gave me opportunities and opened doors for me. So I am in that zone right now [where] I am going and asking the 16-year-old – because he is my actual motivator, because if that guy hadn’t set the platform I probably wouldn’t have been here.”
Pandya smashed an unbeaten 40 from 23 balls, hitting two fours and four sixes as India defeated Bangladesh by 60 runs in their only warm-up game ahead of the T20 World Cup in New York on Saturday.
Stay updated with the latest from T20 World Cup 2024. Explore T20 World Cup Match Today. Check Updated list of Highest-run getters and Highest Wicket-Takers In T20 World Cup 2024. Check T20 World Cup 2024 Points Table and players with the Most Sixes, Most Fours , Most Fifties And Most HundredsIn T20 World Cup 2024.
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