"If I give any answer, it would be through sports": Hardik Pandya

Hardik Pandya (Pic: File Pic)

India's star all-rounder Hardik Pandya who was one of the key players in the side's T20 World Cup 2024 journey opened up on his previous six months leading up to the marquee event. He said people booed him but he never lost calm, instead believed in giving a reply with his performance.

Hardik Pandya revealed that not losing his temper once when things were not in his favour was precisely why the victory felt more meaningful. Mumbai Indians' fans and social media trolls were very harsh to Hardik Pandya during the IPL 2024.

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Mumbai Indians replaced Rohit Sharma with Hardik Pandya as their captain. Pandya earlier was leading Gujarat Titans. His return to the sole franchise as the replacement for Rohit as a captain led to social media backlash. Hardik Pandya was booed in almost all the stadiums in which the franchise's matches were scheduled.

During an interaction with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his residence on Thursday, Pandya said that India was calm throughout the game and always believed that they could win. Despite being trolled mercilessly during the Indian Premier League, on a personal and professional level, he produced what may have been the World Cup-winning moment when he removed Heinrich Klaasen.

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"The last 6 months have been very entertaining for me, there have been a lot of ups and downs and the public booed me. A lot of things happened and I always felt that if I give any answer, it would be through sports... So I believed that I would stay strong, will work hard," Hardik Pandya said during an interaction with PM Modi at the Prime Minister's residence in Delhi.

Lead Indian pacer Jasprit Bumrah got his hands on his first ICC World Cup trophy after the side's successful run in the T20 World Cup 2024. During the interaction with PM Narendra Modi, the speedster opened up on how bowling in crucial and difficult situations helped him gain confidence.

"Whenever I bowl for India, I bowl in very crucial stages. Whenever the situation is difficult, I have to bowl in that situation. So I feel very good when I am able to help the team and if I am able to win the match from any difficult situation, then I get a lot of confidence and I carry that confidence forward as well. And especially in this tournament, there were many situations where I had to bowl tough overs and I was able to help the team and win the match," Bumrah said.

On Thursday, after the Indian team left the national capital and arrived in Mumbai, the Rohit Sharma-led team kicked off the open-top bus parade from Marine Drive. Fans turned up in numbers, danced to the tune of India's success, and celebrated the arrival of the T20 World Cup-winning team.

Throughout the parade, players were seen lifting the coveted trophy high in the air and appreciating the support that the fans showed throughout the tournament.

The love of the fans to see their team was clearly visible when some of them climbed on the tree and cheered for the team as the bus went past them.

Once the victory parade ended and the team arrived at the Wankhede Stadium, the Indian cricket players danced to the tunes of 'dhol' with fans cheering for them.

(With ANI Inputs)