It hasn't been easy being Hardik Pandya - not getting the deserved captaincy, getting booed in his own country, abused and hated like anything and still being able to deliver in clutch moments for India, having played a crucial role in India winning the T20 World Cup. Pandya sustained an untimely injury during the Sri Lanka game in the Asia Cup and missed the last bit, followed by the Australia series, and he came back on Tuesday in the T20I series opener against South Africa, like he never went away.
Pandya was the showstopper in Cuttack, scoring an unbeaten 59 off just 28 balls, after walking in at 78/4 and worked his bat like a sword with a swagger, like he usually does and single-handedly took India to a competitive score of 175, which eventually proved to be enough. Hardik also took a wicket with the ball and got to 99 scalps for the format and was the man of the moment, with the crowd going berserk, chanting his name as he brought the Barabati Stadium to its feet.
Hardik revealed that it is now his biggest motivation to entertain the crowd. "You should be a rockstar. You come, perform for 10 minutes and the crowd goes berserk, I think that has been the biggest motivation for me," Pandya told bcci.tv. "Life has thrown a lot of lemons at me, I've always thought I'll make a lemonade. Every time I walk in, I feel like all the crowd is just waiting... they've come for this moment to watch me bat," he added.
Hardik reiterated that he has a lot of belief in his ability and he wanted to come back fully fit, leading up to the T20 World Cup and the IPL. "My mindset was really about coming back stronger, bigger, better. Injuries test you mentally and at the same point in time, it kind of puts a lot of doubts... and a lot of credit to the loved ones
"I've stood strong, I've done a lot of things with grace and that has helped me to become even more confident, back myself and really trust my skillset... I really believe in myself as a player. I've always believed that if you don't believe in yourself, how would others believe you?
"I think I have been a very honest, very real person in life as well, which has helped me a lot. I don't really sugarcoat a lot of things in my life. It's never about the other person, it's never about how others think or how others perceive. It's always about how I feel inside.
"Now, it's time where Hardik Pandya wants to just play the sport, enjoy every second on the ground... and bigger and better will be the motto in my life," he added.
Pandya's ability to hit pace and spin with aplomb is probably why India missed him in Australia and even the ODIs against South Africa and now that he is back, the Indian team is better for it and the Men in Blue will hope that he can play a crucial role in their T20 World Cup defence.
