Hardik Pandya sweats it out at National Cricket Academy, steps towards gaining full fitness

Star all-rounder Hardik Pandya was recently spotted sweating it out. Considering his fitness issues of late, the charismatic cricketer seems to be going in the right direction. As a matter of fact, to work on his lower back, he even skipped the Vijay Hazare Trophy (domestic 50-over competition) too.

As his lower back has been troubling him since mid-2019, the Baroda cricketer is currently undergoing an extensive rehabilitation program in Mumbai. The 28-year-old recently shared as many as nine clips on his Instagram stories, where he can be seen going through extensive training.

While his first few stories see him jogging and warming up, the next few videos see him doing several kinds of exercises. Ever since the hard-hitting all-rounder underwent surgery in October 2019, he hasn’t regained full fitness. That could be seen in his recent performance in the ICC T20 WC 2021 as well.

Mumbai Indians will remain in my heart forever: Hardik Pandya

His fitness has seemed to impact his form in a negative manner. In the six ODI games in 2021, the aggressive batter was able to score just 165 runs at an average of 27.50. When it comes to the shortest format of the game, he scored 165 runs in 11 T20Is, at an average of 27.50.

Incidentally, the Mumbai Indians decided to release him and retained Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Kieron Pollard and Suryakumar Yadav. As the right-arm pacer has been playing for the five-time champions since 2015, he made a lot of memories while playing for the franchise Thus, he recently wrote an emotional message on Instagram which read:

“I’ll carry these memories with me for the rest of my life, I’ll carry these moments with me for the rest of my life. The friendships I’ve made, the bonds that have been formed, the people, the fans, I’ll always be grateful. I’ve grown not just as a player but as a person. I came here as a youngster with big dreams – we won together, we lost together, we fought together. Every moment with this team has a special place in my heart. They say all good things must end but @mumbaiindians will remain in my heart forever.