'I don't think we need to prove anything to anyone' - Hardik Pandya reacts to Michael Vaughan's 'India are the most underperforming white-ball team' remark

India's star all-rounder Hardik Pandya has reacted to former England skipper Michael Vaughan’s criticism of the Indian team. Vaughan in his recent column in The Daily Telegraph had written that India are the ‘most underperforming’ side in white-ball cricket following their ten-wicket defeat in the recently-concluded ICC T20 World Cup 2022 semi-finals against England.

Reacting to the same, Hardik said that the Indian team does not have anything to prove to anyone, but there definitely is room for improvement. At the same time, the 29-year-old also added that when a team does not perform well, the critics will have their own personal opinions which need to be respected.

It's a sport, you keep trying to get better: Hardik Pandya

"Obviously when you don't do well, people will have their opinion, which we respect. I understand people have different points of view. Being at the international level, I don't think we need to prove anything to anyone. It's a sport, you keep trying to get better, and eventually when the result is supposed to happen it will happen. There are things we need to work on, going forward we will rectify and work on it," Hardik said on Wednesday, November 16 ahead of the bilateral series against New Zealand.

"There is a disappointment of the T20 World Cup, but we are professionals. We need to cope with it the way we cope with our success and move forward, look to get better and rectify the mistakes we made," he added.

When India were shown the door by an upbeat English side in the second semifinal of the T20 World Cup last week, it once again marked the Men in Blue’s inability to sustain pressure while playing in the knockouts of a multi-nation tournament.

Thus, with the  Indian team not winning a major ICC tournament since the ICC Champions Trophy 2013, Michael Vaughan criticized the team’s approach by saying that they are just not up to the mark in limited-overs cricket, especially in T20Is.

"India are the most underperforming white-ball team in history. I am just staggered by how they play T20 cricket for the talent they have. They have the players, but just do not have the right process in place. They have to go for it. Why do they give the opposition bowlers the first five overs to bed in?" Vaughan wrote in his column for The Daily Telegraph.