Indian cricket team all-rounder Hardik Pandya had an tumultuous outing at the recently concluded IPL 2024. Mumbai Indians finished at the bottom of the points table with just 4 victories from 14 matches and Hardik came under a lot of fire - both as a player and a captain. Hardik's appointment as the Mumbai Indians captain ahead of the tournament was not taken well by a section of the fanbase and the disappointing results led to the crowd booing him at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
With the T20 World Cup 2024 just round the corner, questions have once again surfaced over Hardik's form but West Indies legend Ian Bishop believes that his 'strong personality' will be help him shine in the tournament.
"I think he is a pretty strong personality. I would like to think that the other members of the team would have rallied around him. What he endured during the IPL, some of it was not of his own making. I just wish fans could have approached it maybe a little differently, but they have the right to voice their views however they see fit," Bishop said on Star Sports.
Earlier, Hardik slammed an explosive 23-ball 40 for India in the T20 World Cup 2024 warm-up match against Bangladesh on Saturday. As India secured a 50-run win in their only practice match, Hardik opened up on the 'difficult' times he faced over the past couple of months.
"Eventually, I believe, you have to stay in the battle. Sometimes life puts you in situations where things are tough, but I believe that if you leave the game or the field, the battle that is, you won't get what you want from your sport, or the results you are looking for," Hardik said.
"So, yeah, it has been difficult, but at the same time, I have been process-driven, I have tried to follow the same routines I used to follow earlier," he said on Star Sports.
"At the same time these things happen; there are good times and bad times, these are phases that come and go. That is fine. I have gone through these phases many times and I will come out of it as well," Hardik further said.