Had a reality check after the World T20: Hardik Pandya

One of the rising stars when it comes to playing in the Indian cricket team is certainly Hardik Pandya. At 22 and after a wonderful season with the Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League, it would seem as though Pandya’s name is already in lights given his antics with both bat and all when it came to some of his performances in recent times.

When it came to the three ODIs against England, Pandya was used rather exclusively as a bowler before that epic inning of 55, something that ensured that the Indians came within touching distance of going ahead and securing a win, only for Chris Woakes to hold his nerve and hand England the win.

Following the World T20, Pandya went on to reveal that he had a quick flash of a reality check about the way in which he had played. Of course, he had saved the match against Bangladesh in Bangalore and also stated that the India ‘A’ tour was something that helped him quite a bit.

Pandya accompanied Rahul Dravid and India ‘A’ to Australia in the fall of 2016, a series that saw him secure a permanent place in the Indian squad. Moreover, there was a massive learning curve when it came to learning more about the game as well.

“After the World Cup I had a reality check of what are the things I need to improve upon in my game,” he said, “The Australia tour (with India A) was pretty important for me,” he said, “I learnt a lot of things about my game, Rahul sir (India A coach Rahul Dravid) used to talk to me about my game and the mental aspects.”

“The Australia tour (with India A) was pretty important for me,” he said.

Hardik Pandya is known for playing rash shots at times. Speaking about his shots, he accepted the mistakes he committed in the crucial stage of the final ODI of the recently concluded series

“The shots that I played I should have not. The asking rate was high and someone had to play the big shots. Kedar was the one who stayed there and he should have and I thought I should be the one who would take the chances,” Pandya said.

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Speaking about the experienced pacer Ashish Nehra coming back in the T20 side, Pandya said, “I have played with him. It only strengthens the bowling attack.”

"The India A tour to Australia last year has been a learning curve" @hardikpandya7 on how he has matured over the past year #INDvENG pic.twitter.com/KmxCB86h41

— BCCI (@BCCI) January 24, 2017