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Cricket Players'Hardik Pandya was fighting his own battles': India all-rounder forced to look at his Team India role 'negatively'
Former India speedster Zaheer Khan is thrilled to see Hardik Pandya back bowling full throttle.
Team India is enjoying the return of Hardik Pandya in full capacity as the India all-rounder continues to diligently and successfully enjoy his role with both bat and ball. That Pandya is only playing white-ball formats for India helps, but it is the closest the world has come to witnessing the Pandya of old – regularly bowling for India. After the 2019 World Cup, when Pandya underwent back surgery, it wasn't until IPL 2022 that he started to roll his arms over frequently. However, until last year, Pandya would be reserved when it came to bowling regularly on a match-to-match basis.
Thankfully, those concerns are over with Hardik's evolution as a bowler. In T20Is, Pandya makes it a point to bowl his quota of four overs, occasionally even opening the bowling. Bowling full 10 overs in ODIs may still take time, but former India pacer Zaheer Khan is thrilled to see Pandya enjoying his bowling more than ever.
"That's what we've been saying… that if Hardik the bowler comes to the party, then the whole balance of the side changes. Over time, he has been a reluctant bowler, hasn't he? He's been fighting his own battles – injuries, back issues – forcing him to be apprehensive about looking at a bigger role with the ball. But slowly and surely, he's understood over a period of time that it's very important for him to take up that responsibility for the team. And that's very important," Zaheer said on Cricbuzz.
Hardik Pandya's rise from the ashes
Zaheer's 'apprehensive' take stemmed from the uncertainty surrounding Pandya. He had been through a lot since getting ruled out of the 2023 World Cup. Pandya's ankle injury, coupled with his hostile treatment by fans at Mumbai Indians, reports of a rift with Rohit Sharma, and the alleged division in the MI dressing room after a disastrous IPL 2024 campaign seemed to have put him down.
As it later turned out, Hardik's relationship with his ex-wife Natasa Stankovic was also in turmoil. To put all of that behind and play an instrumental role in winning India the T20 World Cup has been a huge boost for the star India all-rounder. From then on, Hardik has only carried that form forward. Even for Baroda, Hardik produced a fantastic show, with both bat and ball. No wonder Pandya is where he is today.
"The numbers are backing that and I'm sure that with time, he's also realised the importance of Hardik the bowler. And it clearly shows now when he's preparing for a series. He is not looking at it in a negative way. That's a great sign. You look at them having 3 spinners, or 4 spinners in the side. They know and trust Hardik enough to do the job," added Zaheer.
