Hardik Pandya reveals how MS Dhoni reacted after he conceded 19 runs in his first international over
Hardik, while recalling his horrendous first over in international cricket, revealed that he thought his India career was over on his debut itself.
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MS Dhoni has earned many accolades for his leadership qualities as well as finishing skills. To top it off, the former India skipper was considered as one of the best skippers in the history of Indian cricket. Players who made their debut under Dhoni’s captaincy got to witness what exemplary leadership skills looked like.
One such player, who broke into the national side during Dhoni’s reign, was all-rounder Hardik Pandya. The Baroda player donned the India jersey for the first time in 2016 against Australia at Adelaide. However, it wasn’t the start that Pandya had hoped for. He went for 19 runs in his first over, with the first three deliveries in international cricket being wides.
Hardik, while recalling his horrendous first over in international cricket, revealed he thought that his India career was over on his debut itself. The Mumbai Indians’ player, in a chat with Harsha Bhogle on Cricbuzz, revealed how Dhoni stood by him in a situation where some other captains would’ve criticized the bowler.
‘Dhoni wanted me to learn from my own experiences’: Hardik Pandya
“I genuinely thought my career was over. I had never taken such a beating even in domestic cricket,” said Hardik while remembering that he conceded 26 runs in first 8 balls of his international career. However, he bounced back later in the game and scalped two wickets to finish with figures of 2/37.
Hardik also revealed that Dhoni didn’t tell him a word despite starting off woefully in the first over. Dhoni wanted the all-rounder to learn from his own experiences, according to Hardik.
“He didn’t speak to me there. MS Dhoni wanted me to learn from my own experiences. I think he did something fantastic as because of this experience, I got over the fact that I am playing for India. That was the moment I could tell myself that ‘I know Mahi, I know Kohli and Rohit Sharma’
“Six months ago, the cricketers I used to admire, now I was playing with them. I was playing cricket with the players I used to admire watching,” said Hardik.
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