Hardik Pandya has spoken openly about leading the India National Cricket Team, dealing with injuries, and the criticism he has faced throughout his career.
The star all-rounder said that becoming India’s captain was a proud moment for him, but he never chased the captaincy. He stressed that leadership is not about having a title because a player can guide and inspire the team even without having the captain’s tag.
Pandya first captained India in a T20I against Ireland in 2022 before leading the ODI side against Australia in 2023. Overall, the star all-rounder has captained India in 16 T20Is, winning 10 of them, while the team has won two of the three ODIs under his captaincy. Amid this, CSK, KKR, and DC locked in three-way race to acquire Hardik Pandya for IPL 2027.
Hardik Pandya’s powerful take on leadership wins hearts
As he gears up to make a comeback after missing the Afghanistan, Ireland, England, and Zimbabwe series, Hardik Pandya shared that becoming India’s captain was a proud and special moment, but he didn’t let it change his mindset. He enjoyed the title for a few minutes, but he doesn’t become too attached to the captaincy because this is the temporary thing.
Hardik Pandya was quoted as saying by SGTV: “When it comes to leadership, I never doubted myself. I don’t play for roles or the sake of my name. It was always about knowing that I am a leader, knowing that I have the power and presence in any team that I play in, where all 11 will follow me if I ask them to. I always believed that you don’t need to be a captain to be a leader. You can be a leader as a player as well.”
He continued, “Very fortunate and grateful. I never played for that. But it’s a dream of everyone who starts the journey to just play for India, but captaining is another honor. But that feeling was only for five minutes. After that, it was about thinking about what we can do better. I loved the moment for five minutes and cherished it. I don’t keep all these things too close, as it can go anytime.”
Hardik Pandya sends strong message to critics ahead of India comeback
Speaking about his mindset when it comes to dealing with criticism, the Indian all-rounder has bluntly said that he will never react to his “irrelevant critics” because his own peace matters more to him. He said that the break from the game helped him refresh both his body and mind. Amid this, Ravichandran Ashwin picks India’s 2027 World Cup squad; Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Bhuvneshwar Kumar IN.
The star all-rounder has made it clear that all the hard work he has been doing is for his own happiness and peace, as he believes that if he is happy and confident, good performances will automatically follow. Hardik added, “When things are going well, everyone can say I answered critics, but it was never about that. It was about me feeling good about myself.”
Hardik Pandya breaks silence on ‘Attitude’ tag that hurt his career
Hardik also spoke about the ‘attitude’ tag and criticism about his personality. The star all-rounder admitted that he was always a different personality from the others. Pandya said that he enjoyed having fun, joking with teammates, and expressing himself, but many people misunderstood his personality, and many times he had to pay for this misconception.
He signed off by saying, “I was an outside the box person and not like a traditional cricketer. Now it played well for me, but at that point I would always get dropped, not because of my runs, but my attitude. Honestly, I did not even know what ‘attitude’ was. I had no idea.”
