There was pin-drop silence in dressing room: Ravi Shastri recalls Hardik Pandya injury in Asia Cup 2018
ormer India head coach Ravi Shastri on Sunday recalled Hardik Pandya’s career-threatening back injury from Asia Cup 2018, saying the all-rounder has showcased tremendous mental strength to recover from it and take his place as one of the first-choice players in limited-overs cricket.
Hardik Pandya suffered a nasty lower-back injury during India’s Group A match against Pakistan in the 2018 Asia Cup. Hardik had to be stretchered off the field after the injury. Hardik was ruled out of the Asia Cup and on his recovery from the injury, the all-rounder struggled to bowl consistently for India and the his former Indian Premier League franchise Mumbai Indians.
Hardik struggled to fully recover from the back injury and he was cautious about his bowling plans for both the senior national team and his IPL franchise. Hardik did not bowl a single over for the Mumbai Indians in IPL 2020 and IPL 2021 as he was bogged down by recurring injury concerns.
However, Hardik took a lengthy break from competitive cricket after the T20 World Cup in 2021. Despite questions asked of his absence from action, Hardik shut out the outside noise and timed his return to perfection at IPL 2022. When he was named the captain of newbie franchise Gujarat Titans, plenty of eyebrows were raised but Hardik proved naysays wrong by scoring truckload of runs and bowling consistently in excess of 140kph.
Hardik has now evolved into a crucial member of the senior national team, scoring 314 ruins in 14 matches since his return to the side.
“There was pin-drop silence in the dressing room when that happened becaus we knew it was something serious and we had to wait to watch what would happen. And I moved across from the dressing room to the medical room, which was just adjacent to the Pakistan dressing room and he was lying flat. He could barely move, it was just his head moving from side to side. He was in real, real pain,” Shastri told Star Sports.
“From there, to come back, it shows a lot of character, a lot of determination, and will to want to play at the top level. There is no shortcut to success, he has put in the hard yards and he is getting the distance,” Shastri added.
Hardik even led India in 2 T20Is in Ireland and a T20I in the West Indies as he is now being seen as a leadership material for Team India.
Hardik shone in India’s win over Pakistan in the Asia Cup opener, picking up 3 wickets and hitting a quickfire 33 not out off just 17 balls.
AKRAM IN AWE OF HARDIK
Furthermore, former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram heaped praise on Hardik Pandya’s mental strength, saying he is one of the finest all-rounders going around.
“First of all, it takes a lot of mental strength to come back from an injury like that. It appears he is mentally very, very strong. His pace is back. He is such a crucial player to India in T20Is and ODIs, I hope he plays Test match as well. In the middle overs, his pace gives you what he did to Pakistan,” Akram said.
“With the bat, he is fearless, he doesn’t think ‘if I get out, what will happen?’. That’s why he is a dangerous, dangerous player, not just against Pakistan but against any side in the world.”
