Marred by a series of injury, India's star all-rounder made a sensational comeback and guided Gujarat Titans to the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 title glory in their maiden season. He led the new entrants from the front, not just in terms of captaincy, but with the ball & ball as well.
After winning the title, Pandya has opened up on his long break from India squad and has quashed all the rumours surrounding it. The 28-year-old last featured for the Men in Blue in the 2021 T20 World Cup. Hardik has hardly bowled in the past couple of years and wasn't named in India's T20I squad for the series against New Zealand, West Indies, and Sri Lanka. Many felt that he was dropped from the team as he couldn't bowl.
Hardik Pandya, however, said in a video shared by GT on Twitter that he had taken a hiatus to improve his condition so that he could bowl full power again. He stated:
“Lots of people don’t know that I took off, it was my decision. A lot of misconceptions are that I was dropped. You only get dropped when you’re available. Thankful to the BCCI that they allowed me to take such long breaks and didn’t trouble or force me to come back, so that’s commendable from their side. The old Hardik will be back.”
Gujarat Titans (GT) captain Hardik Pandya has spoken out about his long hiatus from the Indian squad after winning the IPL 2022 title. The 28-year- old’s last appearance for the Men in Blue was in the T20 World Cup in 2021.
Hardik hasn’t bowled much in recent years and was left out of India’s T20I team for the series against New Zealand, the West Indies, and Sri Lanka. Many people believed he was dropped from the squad because he couldn’t bowl.
You Only Get Dropped When You Are Available: Hardik Pandya
Pandya said in a video shared by GT on Twitter that he had taken a hiatus to improve his condition so that he could bowl full power again. He stated:
“Lots of people don’t know that I took off, it was my decision. A lot of misconceptions are that I was dropped. You only get dropped when you’re available. Thankful to the BCCI that they allowed me to take such long breaks and didn’t trouble or force me to come back, so that’s commendable from their side. The old Hardik will be back,” he said.
As the IPL 2022 began, everyone was wondering whether Pandya will be able to contribute with both bat and the ball as well. And what happened next was nothing short of a fairytale, The star all-rounder excelled in both the departments as he amassed 487 runs and picked eight scalps.
With some key games coming up in the lead-up to the T20 World Cup, the all-rounder spoke up on how he hopes to have the same influence for Team India. He stated:
"I told someone as well that now that the fans are back, it is the right time for me to make a comeback. There are a lot of matches that I am going to play (for India) and the hard work that I did before coming into the IPL will come to use. Making sure that whatever I did for my franchise, I do for my country as well,” Pandya added.
Now again, all eyes will be back on Pandya as he is back in the India fold as the Men in Blues are gearing up for the five-match T20I series against South Africa which is scheduled to be played from June 9 to June 19.
India's T20I squad:
KL Rahul (c), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan, Deepak Hooda, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk), Dinesh Karthik (wk), Hardik Pandya, Venkatesh Iyer, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik.
