Hardik, Bumrah share each other’s success
All-rounder opens up on Ponting’s influence in his early days with Mumbai
Hardik Pandya, the effervescent Indian allrounder, and teammate Jasprit Bumrah may be like chalk and cheese in terms of personalities but revel in each other’s success.
Pandya, who announced the pregnancy of his girlfriend Natasha Stankovic earlier in the week, is known to shoot off his mouth on several occasions and even courted trouble after the ‘Koffee with Karan’ show in 2018. Bumrah, on the other hand, is the perfect example of a smiling assassin, who likes to keep to himself.
“Jassi (Bumrah) is a very different character. He’s calm, but he’s someone who likes to be left alone. If he has to talk to someone then he’ll initiate the conversation,” Pandya told a cricket website.
“I can never be like him even if I try. He’s knowledgeable, well-spoken, thinking 20 times before speaking. But he’s someone who I enjoy being with. We have got success together and have genuinely shared success,” he added.
Pandya also opened up about former Australia captain Ricky Ponting’s role during his initial days with Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League. He broke into the MI team in 2015 after catching the eyes of the franchise in a domestic match and was bought for his base price of Rs1 million in the auction.
“Ricky Ponting was someone who looked after me the best. He looked after me like a child. I used to feel like he was my father figure there,” he said. “Ricky taught me so many things, he taught me situations, he taught me mindset, how strong you should be.
“As a new boy in 2015, I used to sit next to the hoardings. Ricky used to sit down with me and speak about the game. [With all these conversations] I started learning quickly.”