Flamboyant India all-rounder Hardik Pandya revealed that former captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni showed a lot of faith in him in his third match itself. Hardik shared great camaraderie with Dhoni both on and off the field as the Baroda cricketer made his international debut under the wicket-keeper.
Pandya has often called Dhoni his elder brother and credited him for his success at the international level.
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In a podcast with SGTV, Pandya recalled his debut where he leaked 19 runs in his first international over and revealed how the then captain Dhoni had helped him stay calm by showing faith.
“When I joined the Indian team, I saw people I watched growing up – Suresh Raina, Harbhajan Singh, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Ashish Nehra. Before I played for India, he was a star. It was a big deal for me when I went there. So obviously the way I started – I think I’m the first cricketer to go for 21 runs (19 runs) in his first over – I really thought okay, this might be my last over . But I was so blessed and lucky to play under the leadership of Mahi bhai, who showed a lot of trust in us, helping us reach where we did,” Hardik told SGTV podcast.
The 28-year-old later went down the memory lane and said that Dhoni told him that he would get a place in the World Cup squad only on his third game.
“Just after the third match of my international career, Mahi bhai told me that you would be in the World Cup squad. So for me, to play the World Cup or to know that in the third game I just got to know about it. I didn’t even bat in that match but he assured me that you have expressed yourself. Yes, it was just like a dream come true,” he said.
The flamboyant all-rounder has become an integral part of India’s limited-overs set-up as he has played 63 ODIs and 54 T20Is so far.
Pandya has already represented in the 2016 and 2021 T20 World Cups and the 2019 ODI World Cup. While he recently led Gujarat Titans to the IPL title in his debut season.
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