Hardik Pandya and company defeated New Zealand by 168 runs in the third and final T20I encounter at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, thanks to an all-round effort by the Indian squad. After winning the series 2-1, captain Hardik Pandya said that ‘hard effort’ had helped players reach the top.
In a post-match interview with the night’s star Shubman Gill for BCCI.tv, Hardik provided pearls of wisdom for the youth, citing instances of the Indian squad that has ‘achieved higher heights’ thanks to their difficult grinding.
“For many young people out there, hard effort is the only way to go forward in life. At the same time, if you can be honestly honest with your job, you can see the outcome (pointing to Gill and himself) and all the men in our team who have attained higher heights,” Hardik counselled during the discussion.
Hardik had a fantastic game with the willow, hitting a fast 30 in 17 balls, but it was his excellent bowling performance that caught the opposing side by storm. The captain bowled magnificently for 4/16 in his four overs and was named player of the series for his outstanding exploits.
Owing to Jasprit Bumrah’s injury-forced absence, Hardik has taken on the responsibility of consistently delivering the tough overs for the team in the powerplay and has progressed tremendously on the bowling front. The captain further commented about his bowling excellence in the series finale and claimed that clocking around 145kmph was something that made him ‘glad’.
“It was field day for me. “I say that because I wanted to bowl as quickly as possible, and the four wickets, to be honest, are just part of the game, but I believe I bowled at 145 (kmph) if I’m not mistaken, and that sort of gave me the delight and grin you can see,” Hardik continued.
