After months of criticism and trolling, Indian vice-captain Hardik Pandya finally found his night of reckoning and glory when he helped India win the T20 World Cup last week in Barbados. Before the tournament, Hardik was brutally targeted by fans due to his poor performance in IPL 2024, and also the fact that he replaced Rohit Sharma as captain of Mumbai Indians (MI). Under Hardik’s leadership, MI finished the season bottom of the points table.
Some fans were also not happy with Hardik’s inclusion in the Indian squad for the T20 World Cup. However, Hardik was one of India’s winners in the final and was influential for them throughout the tournament.
His performance in the final brought a huge change in the fans’ behavior towards him. In fact, a young woman even apologized to him on live television.
Now, India’s out-of-favour wicketkeeper Ishan Kishan has recalled what Hardik told him when fans chased him.
“I had a feeling that he (Hardik) was saving everything for the World Cup. I will never forget his words: ‘Ek baar performance aa jaaye fir jo aaj gaali de rahe wahi taaliyaan bajayenge (Once I start performing, those who are abusing me will be clapping for me). That’s what he told me when I was also going through a very difficult time. He said ‘let people talk, we will do our best and give 100 percent to the game we love. ‘,” Kishan told the Indian Express.
Kishan, who lost his central contract and was seen training with Hardik before the IPL, also revealed how the Indian vice-captain never complained about the fans’ treatment of him.
“It is difficult to explain in words the last six months he has had, as all sorts of things have been said and written about him. But he never lost his cool. I was with him for most of that time – be it training with him in Vadodara or during the IPL – and I never heard him cribbing ki yaar, aisa kyun ho raha hai mere saath (Mate, why is this happening to me? He was calm about it, took it in a very sporting way, and just focused). in the game,” he explained.
“I remember Hardik bhai once saying during IPL, ‘Jo haath mai nahi hai uske baare mey kya sochna. Log bol rahe hain, kyu bol rahe, wo sab control nahi kar sakte (Those things that are not in our hands , we can If I keep thinking about what people are saying, I will lose control) The same group that criticized me will celebrate me in the future and I just have to take it in a very sporting way,” Kishan added. .
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