Eyes on Hardik in must-win tie

Pandya’s elevation to captaincy for the T20I series against Ireland shows he is doing a lot of things right

RAJKOT: “You can ask Hardik why he is not playing Ranji Trophy. We are seeing those who are playing and performing,” this was India’s chief selector Chetan Sharma in February after Hardik Pandya was left out of India’s home series against Sri Lanka.

Pandya’s no show in last year’s T20 World Cup, his inability to bowl due to his troubled back had left the selectors red-faced, having picked him for the marquee event as an allrounder to bowl his full quota. Pandya later said in interviews that he was picked as a batter.

From such public disagreements with the selector in chief to be named India captain for the upcoming T20I series against Ireland, Pandya’s rediscovery of form, fitness and mojo has all the makings of a comeback best-seller.

When Pandya, already a member of the team management—he is vice-captain for the series—steps on the field at Rajkot in the fourth T20I on Friday, he would get extra love from the Gujarati crowd. Pandya isn’t a Saurashtra native. He isn’t a Amdavadi (Ahmedabad resident) either.

Born in Surat, Pandya plays for Baroda, located at the eastern tip of Gujarat. But for all practical purposes, after Gujarat Titans’ IPL win, Pandya is the new symbol of Gujarati pride in Indian cricket. The tattooed showman is always known to have loved attention. He has now learned to ride the wave.

“Emotionally, it was more about the battle that I won against my own self,” Pandya told BCCI.tv ahead of the series, which marks his India comeback after the 2021 T20 WC. “A lot of things were said about me before I made a comeback. For me it was never about giving them answers. I was just proud of the process which I

followed. Testing times

“No one knows exactly what I went through in the six months that I was off. I have gotten up at 5 in the morning to make sure that I train and the second time I train at 4pm so as to give myself enough rest. I slept for almost all those four months at 9.30 in the night. So, a lot of sacrifice was made. For me it was the battle I fought before I played the IPL.”

India’s team for the two T20Is against Ireland was picked late.