By Niharika Raina Dubai 29 Aug : “The comingback is more powerful than the setback.” With this statement in the wake of India beat Pakistan with five wickets in an exciting Asia Cup 2022 contest, India all-rounder Hardik Pandya himself summarized his life in an entire circle in the Dubai International Stadium, seen in the photos of the years 2018 and 2022.
At the 2018 Asia Cup, then played in 50-over format in the UAE in the UAE, playing the same opposition, Pandya had to be stretchered off the field due to an acute lower back strain.He was unable to move his back during his second run in the 18th over of Pakistan’s innings.
He was motionless, causing the cricketers and fans extremely worried.
He bowled 4.5 overs for 24 runs, before being taken from the field.
It was the beginning of his problems with back pain, despite playing well in the 2019 ODI World Cup in England.
A major operation prevented him from playing for a long time however the problems remained as he was far from his best.
At the 2021 T20 World Cup, Hardik bowled just four overs and scored 40 runs.
He was not bowling against Pakistan in Dubai because India were terribly affected because he was not at his best.
On the day of the match, Hardik was up for the same challenge against the same team at the same venue as the same tournament in the year 2018.
However, with his back feeling great after a long period of fitness improvement during a self-imposed vacation and with plenty of game time scheduled from IPL 2022, the outcome was likely to differ.
He was fast bowling and was causing problems to Mohammad Rizwan and Iftikhar Ahmed with his short bowls and even bringing out the bouncer at times.
Then, Pandya was rewarded for his perseverance.He bounced off Ahmed and the top edge was safely caught by Karthik.
In his next turn, he made a double strike with his short balls as Rizwan was straight to third man, and Khushdil Shah smashed straight to the cover.
The triple strike by Pandya (3/25) in overs 11-15 meant that Pakistan was unable to recover from it and fell to 147 all out.
While batting, Pandya hanged around with Ravindra Jadeja to increase the score to 32 after the final three overs.Then, Pakistan were struggling as their pacers suffered cramps and in the 19th over, Pandya flat-batted Haris Rauf over extra-cover.He scored a boundary.Babar was chasing the ball but he was unable to keep it from striking the rope that was bordering.
He then smashed Rauf over the wide long-on, and then he threw his short-arm to hit the final ball for the four-splitting long-on and a deep mid-wicket to make it perfect.
With seven balls to go in the last over Mohammad Nawaz struck on the first ball after Jadeja was smashed while heading for a long grind.
Pandya concluded the match in tranquil style, slamming an over six to win a thrilling match with two balls left.
“I was thinking about everything.
I was being lifted off of the ground and I was in the same place for dressing.Today, I felt an overwhelming sense of satisfaction because of what I’ve endured in order to return and have the chance.
the journey is lovely,” said Pandya in an interview with Jadeja in the video that was uploaded on bcci.tv on Monday.
“Well I wasn’t sure that scoring seven runs was an overwhelming job (in the last over) because he (Nawaz) is left-arm spinner, and there were five fielders within the circle.If there were even 10 fielders in the circle it wouldn’t have made a any difference in my strategy, since I just had to smash over the top.”
“Having stated that, I exhibited emotions only once in my innings.It was when you (Jadeja) were dismissed in the first ball of the 20th over.
The pressure was not in the air (on me).I could tell that the bowler was more under pressure, and I was looking for him to make an error.The way he did the field placement me aware that he was going to bowl back of length, and I was prepared (to hit the six),” elaborated Pandya.
With Pandya now able provide consistent performances across all aspects for India this is a huge boost for the team in the lead up to of the T20 World Cup in Australia in October and November.
Hardik’s career was complete in Dubai on Sunday in the match against Pakistan and erased the bad memories of 2018 and proving that comebacks are actually stronger than setback.
nr/akm
