Hardik Pandya has emerged to be one of the best all-rounders throughout the world-class cricket. Not only can he bat destructively and smash sixes but also can scalp the wickets of many great batsmen around the world. He initially got his limelight while playing for the Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League. After some of his brilliant performances; both with the bat as well as the ball, he soon became a part of the Indian squad too, games after games. Recently, he also showed the world that he can handle the responsibilities of a leader too. Hardik Pandya led way for his team, Gujarat Titans to win the IPL trophy in its maiden season.
However, talking about his career in Indian Cricket Team, the efficient all-rounder played his first match for the country in the year 2016. During an interview, Pandya relishes his feelings about being able to make his debut under the captaincy of MS Dhoni. “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.”
Pandya talked about how after conceding 21 runs in his first over, he thought it was his last one. Not to mention, until MS Dhoni showed full faith in the young lad. “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 a lot of trust in us which has helped us reach where we did.”
MS Dhoni surely was pretty optimistic regarding Pandya’s performance in the upcoming future. The Indian all-rounder revealed that only after his 3rd International game, the Captain Cool assured him that Pandya will be a prominent part of the World Cup team. “Just after the third game of my international career, Mahi bhai told me, ‘You’ll be the World Cup team’. So, for me, to play World Cup or to get to know that in the third game. 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.”
