(July 26), Playing together for the Mumbai Indians, Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya both had a significant impact on India’s victory in the T20 World Cup.
Hardik Pandya has had an extremely busy few months. The all-rounder was ecstatic to rejoin the Mumbai Indians in November of last year, his first IPL team, two years after being cut from the team. It was almost a roller-coaster ride. Things deteriorated during the course of the following month. After MI named Hardik as the team’s new captain, replacing five-time IPL champion Rohit Sharma, the supporters turned against him.
Hardik was routinely jeered by the team’s supporters at Wankhede Stadium, the team’s home field, during the 2024 league season. It had an impact on his play in some ways as well, and MI ended the season with just four victories in their final 14 games, bottom of the table.
Even though Hardik’s career was at an all-time low, he defied the odds and produced an incredible comeback, becoming one of India’s heroes during an undefeated run at the T20 World Cup that ended with the team’s dramatic victory against South Africa last month.
A handful of players kept in close contact with Hardik Pandya as MI and India teammates during this period. Jasprit Bumrah, one of them, has finally shared his thoughts on the all-around player’s battles with opposition from fans and his incredible T20 World Cup comeback.
In a detailed interview with The Indian Express, Bumrah talked about how crucial it is to stop negative thoughts, just like Hardik did.
We are aware that, in our nation, sentimentality is essentially the main topic of conversation. This is a nation of feeling. We acknowledge that both players and fans experience emotion, Bumrah said.
The fact that you are an Indian player, that you are playing there, and that your own supporters are saying nice things about you do matter. But things stand as they are. You have to accept it with grace. How are you going to stop people on the street?
“You try to shut that door if you start focusing on yourself,” Bumrah said.
Saying something is one thing, but really doing it is another, Bumrah conceded.
Simply telling someone to “just not focus on it” is not enough. You can hear them screaming, but the inner circle comes to your aid. As a team, we don’t support, encourage, or believe that is appropriate in any way.
The world is free to think as they please now. His family will always be there for him, we as a team told him when we were speaking with him. There are some things you can’t control. When it occurs, it occurs.
