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India's star all-rounder Hardik Pandya reflected on the defining moments of his cricketing journey, recalling how his heroic last-over performance against Bangladesh in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2016 shaped his career.
Pandya defended 11 runs in the final over, a feat that catapulted him into the national spotlight, and a decade later, he features in the Indian squad as a senior player in the team's title defence. "I think all these moments made me the kind of person I am. There were early challenges in my international career where I had to hold my ground and back myself. It was important to have belief. In cricket, even if there is just a 1% chance, the game is not over until the last ball of the match is bowled. That Bangladesh match was a classic example of that. One ball before the wicket, the batter had started celebrating as if the game was over. He was celebrating right in front of me, and it was all happening before my eyes. When things turn around like that, they create wonderful memories. Every time I see it, I think about how, in the early days, that was one of the challenges in my life and one of the moments in my career that shaped Hardik Pandya. I have had many more moments like this, but my journey started with that one," Pandya said on JioStar. Pandya also said he's always been a bowling-first "cricket geek" and never tapped more than 40 per cent of his batting potential. After the last Indian Premier League (IPL), he realised he wanted to play to his full potential. He credited his girlfriend, Mahieka, for helping him rediscover his love for the game. Pandya further spoke about his marathon net sessions, sometimes lasting six to seven hours a day, even staying at the NCA in Bengaluru from 3:30 pm to 12:30 am to turn that potential into real performance. "I think the child in me, the cricket geek, who is always there, was focusing more on my skill set as a bowler. I have always had a lot of confidence in my bowling, but batting was very close to my heart. After the last IPL, I realised that I really wanted to play to Hardik's full potential. I think until now, I haven't utilised more than 40 per cent of my batting potential, and that is genuinely honest feedback. What I know as a cricketer, what I imagine, what I manifest, and how I practice, have not translated into performance by more than 40 per cent. I took some time in my life to figure out how to bring that out. That's when Mahieka came into my life. We started talking about the sport and how to bring that child back. She helped me rediscover that excitement for the game that I always had. I went behind the scenes, worked really hard, and had a good amount of batting sessions. There were days when I was on the ground for six to seven hours. When I went to the NCA, I would go at 3:30 in the afternoon and finish at 12:30 at night. I was usually the last person to leave and shut the lights off," he added. Pandya, one of India's biggest match-winners, has played 237 matches for the national side. He has scored 4,564 runs at an average of 30.22, including 23 fifties and a century across formats. With the ball, Pandya has scalped 217 wickets at an average of 30.56 and an economy of 6.13 with a five-wicket haul under his belt. (ANI)
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