It is good to be back in the India blues: Hardik Pandya

All-rounder Hardik Pandya was all smiles about returning to the national side. He was ignored for the tour to Zimbabwe following his poor show in the IPL. Pandya last played for India in the World T20 earlier this year. Having been dropped from the side, the young man has worked on his basics and is back as a better player. Talking to the BCCI.tv, the Baroda all-rounder expressed his happiness on his return. He also spoke on how he spent his time while being out of the team.

He said that he worked on his game for a couple of months after the IPL. He worked equally hard on his batting and bowling. He quoted, “After the IPL, I was out for two months. I worked hard on my game and that helped me. I got to know about my game and the areas I needed to improve. I wanted to work on my bowling and wanted to be more consistent at it and also get better at batting,”

Hardik Pandya was a part of the India A team that toured Australia for the quadrangular A team series. His performances were decent enough for him to make it back to Indian team. He quotes Rahul Dravid and Paras Mhambrey as the key influences for improving his game. “The India A tour was amazing for me as that is how I got back to the India team, isn’t it? I learned a lot of things from Rahul Dravid Sir and Paras Mhambrey and other support staff members. As an individual, it was a crucial part of my career,” said Pandya.

Hardik Pandya was joyous about being back to the team. He spoke on the beautiful venue of Dharamsala and said it is good to be at the venue. He remarked that this is his first meeting with Anil Kumble as the head coach. He expressed his desire to learn new trades from the Indian legend.

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“It is good to be back in the India blues. We’re playing at such a beautiful venue and the atmosphere is pretty good so I am very happy to be back. It is my first day with Anil Sir as India’s Head Coach. I did get to work with him with Mumbai Indians in the IPL, but I am keen to learn new things from him,” conceded Pandya.