Dear Hardik Pandya,
As it is, the nation always finds a way to censure an individual in the country and if you give them an opportunity, nothing gets worse than that. You somehow managed to come up with countless opportunities for even your hardliners to rain down upon you.
Being a fan of yours, it was difficult for me to witness you slump down the drastic lanes of mediocrity and you weren’t making it any easier for us. Controversies, absence from the domestic tournaments, a handful of woeful displays for Team India and add to that the menacing vice of injuries, somewhere the unthinkable started doing rounds.
India’s cricketing talent pool is excessively enriching and you slip up for a while, the nation won’t take a second thought to forget you. When you were being picked up by the Gujarat Titans to lead their lines, I was scared about the fact that this year will be a make-or-break for you. If this IPL didn’t see your best, the nation would be just writing you off as a memory.
One of the most persistent in the last couple of months was whether you will be bowling or not? You were seen trying to make up grounds in the nets and yet it somehow lacked the killer sting of ascendancy that you always came up with. However, for me, it was a ray of hope. It was a glimpse of the fact that you are trying and you can or not, I knew that the narrative will change.
Hardik Pandya has not let controversies effect his preparation for IPL 2022.
If the question of bowling seemed like a challenge, the steep decline in your batting numbers did very little to dissuade us of the constant fear of you going down as a bittersweet memory in the ranks of Indian cricket. Then came the controversies and the fans ensured that not even a single stone was unturned to criticize you.
Honestly, every time, I saw a meme being made out of you, I had to scroll faster than the Flash because it is heavy on your heart to see your dearest ones being trolled mercilessly.
IPL 2022 started with a clash of the giants for you and you were probably not at your phenomenal best but you showed glimpses of confidence. You completed your quota of 4 overs and were quite expensive, which would suggest that you are just not up to the mark.
But you know when Christopher Reeves was bedridden after being paralyzed, for him, playing Superman was not the initial aim again. Bagging that Oscar was not his baby steps. It was to move his finger. It was to get back on his feet again. It was to show the world that anything is possible only if you want to believe. After all, Superman is the symbol of hope.
For me, those 4 overs that you bowled against the Super Giants, it was a gigantic leap of faith for me and your supporters alike. It was you refusing to bow down. You got whacked, yes, but at the end of the day, you stood there and you took the whacking. After all, when we take our baby steps, we fall. We cannot keep on standing.
Then you came out to bat and you bringing out those six boundaries was like reliving those old memories. Seeing you bat was like poetry in motion. Probably it wasn’t destructive but who says that beauty always needs to be magnificent? At times, it is just about getting the small things right.
And then there were the Capitals. With the scorecard reading 2 for 44 and Shubman Gill desperate for a partner, you came to the middle. There wasn’t any onslaught up for grabs, but there was confidence on full display. There was beauty. There was leadership that took the world by storm. Not a single six, yes but four emphatic strikes that were a sight for the sore eyes.
If your batting was a love story for the broken-hearted, you picking the ball up for the very second over was a beacon of salvation for your hardliners. Seifert had no clue whatsoever to what had just unfolded around him. Even before he could set himself up, he was on a long walk back to the pavilion.
From thereon, you pulled things back in an excellent illustration of being miserly. I know, Hardik Pandya just wouldn’t let them walk scot-free and all they could produce against you were 22 runs, an economy of 5.5, nothing short of magical for a T20 bowler.
But for you, Hardik Pandya, it was your first flight and who would have thought that you still can take a leap into the sun and come back unscathed. Superman after all, had the sun powering him up.
I know it is still a long way to go, but I also know, that every historical chapter needs a start and you have just taken the baby steps of a comeback. Make it into a full-blown explosion, Hardik Pandya. Please.
Yours sincerely,
A crazy cricket fan.
