CHENNAI: When Hardik Pandya reached Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday ahead of the clash against Pakistan, all he felt was numbness. He didn’t think about the atmosphere. The pressure of playing Pakistan was not on his mind. Nor was the magnitude of the clash or the occasion. He was just happy to be there.
For him, to be there with the team in Australia for the T20 World Cup in itself was a massive thing. That is what he had to say to head coach Rahul Dravid when the former India captain tried to calm him before the match.
“I had to tell him, ‘Sir, please understand I am happy to be here’. Ten months ago (when) I was working in my space, I had no idea. And this is where I wanted to be. I said, ‘irrelevant of the result (or) what happens, I am just happy to be here’,” he said in a chat with Virat Kohli on BCCI.tv later on Sunday night.
The last two years haven't been easy. He has had injury concerns. He had been through surgeries, and rehabs while being constantly on the radar. Every time he took the field, the eyes hovered over Hardik for how he moved on the field, and whether he could complete the quota of overs and make a difference.
But more than anything else, it is the loss of his father that hit the hardest. When asked about the emotions he was going through after the nerve-wracking win in front of a packed MCG, all he had to say was that his father would have loved to see him play in this atmosphere.
“I will be grateful forever. If he hadn’t given me a chance, I wouldn't be standing here. He made a big sacrifice, he shifted to a different city for his kids. We were six at that time, and he shifted his entire business. It was a big thing,” Hardik said in a chat with the broadcaster.
Which is why it didn’t come as a surprise when Hardik said he was just happy to be there. Having gone through all that he has in the last 18 months to reach where he was, he knew he was ready. Before the start of the game, in a chat with the broadcaster, the all-rounder made it clear that the questions about his body are to be done with. If anyone needed any proof, he showed why over the next 90 minutes as he finished with 3/30 in the first innings.
Make no mistake, he was a bit inconsistent in his lengths in his first two overs, bowling too short for the conditions that were on offer. But the 29-year-old quickly pulled things back to take two wickets in his third, putting Pakistan on the back foot. With the bat, he was confident, doing what the team needed. So much so that it was he who pushed Kohli to believe, to hang in and to take the game deep. For him, his job was to make life easier for Kohli.
“I would have taken a bullet for you at that point in time but would not have let you get out,” Hardik told the former Indian skipper on BCCI.tv.
While it was Kohli’s unmistakable chasing skills that took India across the line, the role of Hardik in the win was just as crucial. In fact, he was the missing piece in Pakistan’s jigsaw puzzle. The Babar Azam-led side fielded a five-man bowling attack and didn’t have the luxury of playing a pace bowling all-rounder. That India had Hardik meant they could get away with just four overs of spin, which went for 41 runs.
The World Cup has just started for India. They have got off the mark, but have a long way to go. If they want to go deep in the tournament, Hardik's role would become more critical than ever. And he has shown that he is up for it.
But more than what he did on the field on Sunday, India and the team management would take heart from where he is mental. For any athlete, especially someone of Hardik's calibre is generally at the peak of their prowess when they are in a happy place. And Hardik has found his.