Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya opens up on the difficult phase he had to endure during the IPL 2024 season.
Hardik Pandya experienced a roller-coaster of emotions in 2024. Hardik’s life came full circle in months, from being booed throughout the IPL season to helping India lift the T20 World Cup in Barbados. The all-rounder, who recently lifted the ICC Men’s Champions Trophy 2025, has finally opened up about his mindset during the last year when he had to endure difficult times.
Hardik Pandya opens up on the “difficult phase” he had to endure during the IPL 2024 season. (AFP)
Hardik faced hostile crowds in the country during the last IPL season after taking over Mumbai Indians’ captaincy from Rohit Sharma. The fans didn’t take kindly to Rohit being sidelined as captain. Hence, Hardik was booed whenever he stepped out on the field.
Even the home fans at Wankhede Stadium didn’t take kindly to Hardik leading the franchise. During the side’s opening fixture in Mumbai, Hardik was booed left, right, and centre, which led to former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar asking the crowd to “behave.”
Mumbai Indians finished bottom of the points table last season, and even Hardik failed to get going with both bat and ball. The right-hander scored 216 runs and took 11 wickets with the ball.
However, just two months later, Hardik was welcomed back in Mumbai with open arms and loud cheers as he helped the side break the ICC title jinx and win the T20 World Cup in Barbados. In the final against South Africa, it was Hardik who bowled the final over and we all know that transpired on June 29, 2024.
Hardik has now opened up on the entire phase, saying he never wanted to leave the battlefield and grind it out, even when the times were tough.
“It’s always about when you don’t leave the battlefield. For me, it was about surviving, maybe not winning. That year was a year where, for the longest time, I had to hold my ground, not leave the battlefield which was the ground. I realised how everything was panning out, that cricket will be my best friend, and he will get me out of it,” said Hardik Pandya during an episode of JioStar’s ‘Superstars’.
“Yeah, it kept, I kept pushing, kept pushing. And I think when all the hard work and everything came, I don’t think I wouldn’t be able to write a script, which it turned out to be in my life. That six months of my phase where winning the World Cup and coming back and getting the kind of love we got. I think it was a complete 360 turnaround for me. And I think cricket was something which I knew that if I be persistent, if I be honest with my work, if I be really hardworking, I think I’ll be able to come out of this. But when I didn’t know, as exactly said, it was written in the script by the God where it turned out to be two and a half months,” he added.
How does Hardik see the Mumbai Indians squad this season?
Hardik Pandya also provided insight into the franchise’s auction strategy. He explained that the five-time IPL champions wanted to attract experienced players to their ranks.
“This year, the goal was to get experience. I think you can see from the whole sheet where we wanted experienced bowling attack. Because Wankhede is where you get checked, and it can be quite intimidating playing in IPL in Mumbai, in Wankhede,” said Hardik.
“And the wickets are generally high-scoring. So we wanted to focus on people who have a lot of experience at the same point of time, who have the swing, who have the bounce on that track, which we can get the most out of. And I think somehow we have, we have made a very gun team where top to bottom we have been able to fulfill. It’s just that we all have to turn up now,” he added.
The IPL 2022 season will get underway on March 22, with the opening contest between KKR and RCB. Mumbai Indians will begin their campaign on March 23 against arch-rivals Chennai Super Kings at the MA Chidambaram Stadium.
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