The Indian star all-rounder Hardik Pandya has cemented his spot in the Indian squad for the T20 World Cup, despite him struggling with his form lately. The Indian side was missing his presence on the field while he was away struggling with the injuries as he is able to provide a balance to the team by contributing both with the bat and the ball.
Before the start of India’s campaign in the ongoing T20 World Cup 2021, Hardik Pandya revealed how he staged an epic comeback after he was suspended by the Board of Control for Cricket in India, following his controversial and sexist remarks on a popular TV talk show of Karan Johar in 2019. He along with KL Rahul was suspended by the BCCI and not just this, Pandya’s sexist remarks, he also lost several endorsement deals.
Recently, while speaking to Cricket Monthly, Hardik Pandya admitted that those times were testing and he struggled to cope with it even though he was in a good form coming into the IPL 2019. He said:
“When I heard I was going to get suspended, a lot of cricketers who knew me personally, who knew what kind of an individual I am, they went out and spoke about it, which is fine. They thought I was done. I heard lots of people saying, ‘Hardik’s done, he won’t be able to cope with this.’ Because I was the bad boy of Indian cricket at that time.”
Furthermore, Hardik Pandya revealed that there were times when he used to cry a lot while practicing at Bengaluru. He also revealed how he failed to concentrate on the sport properly and wasn’t in the right zone during that time. He revealed:
“At the Chinnaswamy [Bengaluru], while practicing, I was missing the ball by this much (shows a wide gap). Because when this is not right (points to head) and when you question yourself, things just go wrong. That day I cried during training because there was a lot of emotion. Because of how I was portrayed [after the talk-show incident]. I was never that individual. I was not able to concentrate on my sport because there was a lot of expectation from myself, leave anyone else.”
Meanwhile, team India’s campaign in the T20 World Cup will kickstart with a match against arch-rivals Pakistan, that will take place on 24th October.
