India all-rounder Hardik Pandya showed promising signs as returned to the pitch, wearing the national team’s shirt in the warm-up game against Bangladesh and then in the opening T20 World Cup match against Ireland. Leaving the Mumbai Indians’ problems behind, Hardik showed his old form as a finisher and a bowler, asserting that the Indian Premier League issues are now in the past. Former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar highlighted how ‘relaxed and relieved’ Hardik looks while wearing the India jersey and not the Mumbai Indians blue, having gone through a torrid time in the recently-concluded T20 league.
Due to his poor form in the IPL 2024, Hardik's selection in the T20 World Cup 2024 had also come under scrutiny, with reports suggesting that only a lack of alternatives got him into India's 15 for the marquee event. But, Manjrekar maintains that Hardik deserved a spot in the team, having done so well over the years in ICC events.
"I have been repeatedly saying, even before this match, if you see Hardik Pandya's performances in World Cups, he played the all-rounder's role very well in the 2019 World Cup, he had a main performance in the India-Pakistan match on the big stage, and see his performance with the bat in the semi-final India lost in Adelaide, he scored 60 runs at a strike rate of 190," Manjrekar said on Star Sports.
Hardik scored 40 runs off just 23 balls in the practice game against Bangladesh, proving his class and credentials right before India's T20 World Cup opener against Ireland. Then, the all-rounder delivered as a bowler against the Irish.
"What happened in the IPL was a slight temperamental issue because he was feeling the pressure from outside. The environment might not have been good. I am not at all surprised that he will feel slightly relaxed and relieved after donning India's and not the Mumbai Indians' blues. He has the ability and I am repeatedly saying that he is a big-match player," the former India batter added.