Indian cricket team all-rounder Hardik Pandya© AFP
It was a turbulent IPL 2024 season for Hardik Pandya after he replaced Rohit Sharma as the Mumbai Indians captain. The decision was not accepted by a part of the fanbase and following a number of disappointing results, the all-rounder was booed by a section of the crowd at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. However, Hardik bounced back from the poor IPL show to play a big role in guiding the Indian cricket team to the T20 World Cup 2024 as well as the ICC Champions Trophy 2025. Former Indian cricket team star Mohammad Kaif feels that Hardik Pandya was ‘mentally tortured’ during the 2024 season and said that he deserves a ‘biopic’ on how fought against the odds to mount a comeback.
“He kept that pain to himself and went forward, and that has been Hardik Pandya’s comeback story. It was a bad journey. Fans booed him, and people wrote him off. As a player mein apko bata sakta hu, beizatti…apman ke saath aage barna, use sehna, sabse gehra zakham hota hai (As a player, moving forward with insults hurts deeply). A player never forgets that. You can drop him, but being insulted wasn’t a good sign. It turns out to be mental torture for the player,” Kaif said on social media.
“Mental torture—that is what happened to Hardik. Despite all, he played in the T20 World Cup, where he dismissed Heinrich Klaasen in the final. Then, in the Champions Trophy, he scored sixes against Zampa. He performed with the bat and ball, fighting fiercely like a lion. If there is ever a biopic on him, then the last seven months should be an example for players of how to fight against all odds, stay calm, trust your strengths and make a comeback,” the former Indian cricket team star added.
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