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Hardik Pandya, who is looking like a pale shadow of himself during the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL), is ready to take inspiration from his last season’s innings against the Punjab Kings. Pandya has managed just 55 runs from eight matches so far at an ordinary strike rate of 110.
In a video shared by Mumbai Indians (MI) on their social media, the star all-rounder recalled his scintillating knock of 30 not out from 11 against Punjab Kings in Abu Dhabi last season. It was Hardik’s innings that helped the franchise post 191 for 4 after skipper Rohit Sharma’s 70 off 45 and Kieron Pollard’s theatrics on the field with his 47 off 28. Mumbai Indians went on to win the game against Punjab Kings by 48 runs.
“You are alone batting there, with your partner. There are 11 of them. So, you need to feel like a boss. You need to feel like you have that aura where everyone is going to think- oh, what is going to happen now,” the Baroda all-rounder said.
Reminiscing about his inning and how the first six that he hit helped his confidence, Pandya said, “Polly was batting well. I decided in that game I was just going to enjoy. I think first ball, I went and I hit a six or something like that. That six made it look like…all of a sudden my body opened up. My mind said like, come on, today’s the day. Then, I had to go and do what I did. Once I got rhythm…11 balls, 30 runs. Not bad.”
Pandya was one of the main contributors in Mumbai Indians’ journey to defend their title in 2020, where the lanky all-rounder scored 281 runs in 14 matches at a strike rate of 178.98. However, his lacklustre performance in the previous game against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) has raised questions on his fitness as he did not bowl a single over.
MI will take on PBKS in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday in a bid to revive their chances of reaching playoffs.
