Even off the field, Hardik Pandya has not only turned the tables on his jeering IPL fans to be cheerers after a heroic show at the T20 World Cup. And, the very innovative ways of getting his attention by fans.
Firstly, during Mumbai’s iconic Wankhede Stadium felicitation ceremony victory lap, a fan threw his T-shirt at him then another one in Vadodara where an open-top bus parade was exclusively organized for Hardik and he caught a tennis ball thrown by an overenthusiastic fan with one hand.
Warmly received by people in his hometown during the roadshow, Hardik noticed a flying tennis ball towards him and caught it which caused wide smile to be drawn on his face.
Krunal, Hardik’s brother also accompanied him during this roadshow.
Panday excelled in both batting and bowling in the 2021 T20 World Cup scoring 144 runs from six innings averaging 48.00 including a half-century and striking at 151.57 respectively
The all-rounder is also said to have taken eleven wickets in eight matches with an average of 17.36 and economy rate of 7.64, among them three for twenty against New Zealand.
On June 29th at Barbados when South Africa played India losing by seven runs as Virat Kohli (76), Hardik Pandya (3/20), Jasprit Bumrah (2/18) and Arshdeep Singh (2/20) starred in this match that ended India’s ICC trophy drought since 2010.
As he reflected about his journey, Hardik spoke about how he went through injury struggles during last year’s world cup. But got transformed to winning the T20 world cup for men in blue where he performed well all round.
“It was tough after freaky Cup injury of ’23 but worth all efforts for T20 WC win. Results come when you work hard. Hard work doesn’t go unappreciated. Let’s all give our best and improve on our fitness,” Pandya said.
