Approximately two seconds after Anrich Nortje hit the last ball of the final over towards Arshdeep Singh at sweeper cover, confirming India’s T20 World Cup win, Hardik Pandya went down on the ground. Moments later, tears could not stop flowing from his eyes. He had been to hell and back in the last few months, getting incessantly booed by the Mumbai Indians fans to emerge as India’s match-winner in the final against South Africa. Hardik picked up 3/20 in the final, finishing the tournament as a world champion with 11 wickets and 144 runs.
As Hardik and India broke many South African hearts, one of their greats, AB de Villiers, doffed his hat to the all-rounder for proving himself on the grand stage of a T20 World Cup. Hardik was visibly emotional as he spoke to the broadcasters, finally breaking his silence on what he had endured over the last few months. De Villiers, who had mad respect for Hardik, ensured he put his point across to all those who doubted Pandya.
“What stands out for me are the big moments. A guy like Hardik Pandya who’s been through a roller-coaster himself with Mumbai Indians – moving from Gujarat to Mumbai – and all the criticism he coped with, getting the ball from the captain in the final of the T20 World Cup. That was his moment to go like, ‘You know what… all Indian fans out there, this is what I am about as a cricket player’,” De Villiers said on his YouTube channel.
“He made everyone proud out there. Even though I did not want him to succeed like that, I look back and have a lot of respect for that. He is a big man for a big moment and that’s exactly the way he played. To all you Mumbai Indians fans out there who doubted him, I’m pretty sure he has secured a spot in your hearts for the future.”
Hardik, on Wednesday, was rewarded for his brilliant all-round show when he was was crowned the world’s No. 1 T20I all-rounder, this becoming the first Indian to reach the pinnacle of the ICC T20 men’s all-rounder’s ranking. He displaced Sri Lanka’s Wanindu Hasaranga from the top to reach the summit.
Team India’s packed itinerary on July 4
The victorious team returned to India in the early hours of Thursday, where they will undergo various activities. After landing in Delhi, the team reached ITC Maurya, where captain Rohit Sharma cut a victory cake. The players, including Pandya, broke into Bhangra, before entering the hotel. After resting the players will head to the PM residence where they will be having breakfast with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. From there, the players will fly to Mumbai, with an open-bus parade scheduled from evening 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM.
