India all-rounder Hardik Pandya made a spectacular return to international cricket and played a key role in the side's one-sided 101-run victory over South Africa in 1st T20I. He played a brilliant knock of 59* from just 28 deliveries and racked up the wicket of David Miller in what was a fine all-round performance.
Pandya's much-awaited return
Notably, Pandya had been on the sidelines since September after he had sustained a quadriceps injury before the Asia Cup final. This saw him not only miss the Asia Cup final, but also the white-ball tour of Australia and the ODI series against South Africa. He had recently made his return to competitive cricket and had played a stunning knock of 77* for Baroda in their encounter against Punjab in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.
After taking India to victory and winning the Player of the Match award, Pandya opened up on the time he spent on the sidelines due to injury and expressed confidence in himself to achieve bigger things in the future.
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“You should be a rockstar, come perform for 10 minutes, and the crowd goes berserk. That has been the biggest motivation for me. Life has always thrown a lot of lemons at me, and I always thought that I would make lemonade. I’ve always believed that if I don’t believe in myself, how will others believe me? My mindset was really about coming back stronger, bigger and better,” Pandya said in a video shared by BCCI.
“Every time that I walk in, I feel like the crowd has been waiting for this moment. They’ve come to watch me bat. Because I have been strong, I have accomplished many things with ease. That has helped me in becoming more confident, back myself, and really trust my skillset. I really believe in myself as a player. Injuries test you mentally as well, and at the same time, it puts you in a lot of doubt," he added.
India aim to take formidable lead in the series
Meanwhile, after clinching the ODI series against South Africa by 2-1, India maintained their top form in white-ball cricket and took a 1-0 lead in the T20I assignment. They will be aiming to making two wins in a row in the second T20I that will be held at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh PCA Stadium in Punjab on December 11.