लेख विवरण

New Delhi, Star India all-rounder Hardik Pandya is all set to make his comeback to the Indian team after spending a long spell on the sidelines due to his recovery from a back injury. Hardik was absolutely fantastic as a captain and a player for Gujarat Titans (GT) in the recently-concluded Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 as he led his side to their maiden title in their debut season in the competition.

Hardik had opted for a break from all forms of cricket post the conclusion of the T20 World Cup 2021 last year to focus on recovering fully from his back issue. He ended up missing a number of important series for the Indian team before returning to action in IPL 2022. While there were doubts about whether he will manage to be on top of his game after his comeback, Hardik shunned his critics in style.

He is now set to make his comeback to the Indian team for the upcoming T20I series against South Africa and will be looking to continue his fine form with the bat and the ball. Ahead of the start of the five-match T20I rubber, Hardik recalled an interesting anecdote from his intial days with the Indian team.

Hardik had made his debut for the Indian team in a T20I against Australia in January 2016 after impressing for Mumbai Indians in the IPL. Hardik revealed he got ull backing from then captain MS Dhoni on his debut for the Indian team despite not bowling well in his very first over of the game.

Recalling his debut, Hardik said he had thought his first over could be the last over of his career but Dhoni showed faith in him and helped him bounce back. Hardik revealed Dhoni had assured him of a spot in the Indian squad for T20 World Cup 2016 after watching him just in his first three games for India.

“When I joined the Indian team, I saw guys whom I had seen growing up – Suresh Raina, Harbhajan Singh, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Ashish Nehra. Even before I played for India, they were the stars. For me, when I went there it was a big thing," Hardik told the SGTV podcast.

"So obviously the kind of debut I had – I think I am the first cricketer who had gone for 21 runs in his first over – I genuinely felt that ok, this might be my last over. But I was very blessed and lucky to play under Mahi bhai who showed lot of trust in us which has helped us reach where we did.

"Just after the third game of my international career, Mahi bhai told me you will be in the World Cup team. So for me, to play World Cup or to get to know that in the third game I just got to know about this. I did not even bat in that game but he assured me that you have expressed yourself. Yeah, it was just a dream come true,” he added.

Hardik has since become a regular across all formats for the Indian team and is almost indispensable for the Men in Blue in white-ball cricket. The star all-rounder has played 11 Tests, 63 ODIs and 54 T20Is in his international career so far, amassing 532, 1286 and 553 runs in the three formats respectively. He has also picked up 116 wickets across all three formats for India.