Dubai: Star India allrounder Hardik Pandya considers the ongoing T20 World Cup is the biggest responsibility of his career as a finisher because he believes everything is on his shoulders as a lead finisher of the team in the absence of ‘brother’ Mahendra Singh Dhoni from the playing line-up.
This would be India’s first World Cup campaign since Dhoni retired last year and the side will kick-start their campaign against Pakistan on October 24. Meanwhile, Dhoni has been appointed the team’s mentor for the marquee event.
A fast-bowling all-rounder has always been a jigsaw puzzle for the Indian Cricket Team, and Pandya has been the star name to solve that puzzle. But the fitness of Hardik has forever has been an issue, however, the team still believes in him. The 28 year old recently picked up an injury during the IPL and has not bowled since.
There are now doubts over whether Hardik will play in the playing XI while Shardul Thakur was named in the T20 WC squad as a backup for Pandya. But things could change for Hardik with MS Dhoni joining the side as a mentor. Hardik has played a lot under the leadership of Dhoni and has admitted that no one has understood him better than the CSK skipper.
“The biggest so far, I will say, because this time I don’t have Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Everything is on my shoulders I like to think that way because it gives me an added challenge. It is going to be exciting, a cracker of a tournament,” Pandya was quoted as saying to ESPNCricinfo.
Hailing the former India skipper, Pandya reckoned Dhoni as the one who understood him from the start and has always been close to him. “MS was someone who understood me from the start, how I function, what kind of a person I am, what are the things I don’t like, everything. He knows me quite deep. I am very close to him. He is the only person who can make me calm,” Pandya added.
The star all-rounder also recalled how Dhoni reached out to him on his return to the side during the tour of New Zealand in 2019 after he was suspended by the BCCI for some sexist comments he made on a TV show. Acknowledging the role of former skipper during that time, Pandya said, “When all this happened, he knew that I needed support. I just needed a shoulder, which he provided multiple times in my cricketing career. I never saw him as MS Dhoni the greatest. For me, Mahi is my brother. I respect and admire the fact that he was there when I needed him the most.” he signed off.
