Speaking about Hardik Pandya’s turbulent moments during the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024, when he was met with a great deal of hostility from the crowd, Jasprit Bumrah lauded his incredible return during the T20 World Cup last month.
Prior to the 2024 Indian Premier League, Hardik rejoined the Mumbai Indians, only to witness the support turn against him when he took over as captain of the five-time winners from Rohit Sharma. The Baroda all-rounder’s performance on the pitch was somewhat affected by the jeers he heard at every stadium during the 17th season of the lucrative league. Under his direction, the Mumbai Indians finished at the bottom of the standings, while his own play fell short of expectations. But Hardik made history by pulling off an incredible return during the next T20 World Cup in the USA and the West Indies, where he was crucial to India’s victorious campaign.
Jasprit Bumrah, who accompanied Hardik on his road to recovery, said that it’s tough to be an Indian player and deal with the criticism that comes from Indian supporters all the time. According to the elite pacer, it’s critical to minimise outside noise.
We are aware that, in our nation, sentimentality is essentially the main topic of conversation. This is a nation of feeling. We acknowledge that both players and supporters experience emotion, Bumrah stated in an interview with The Indian Express.
The fact that you are an Indian player, that you are playing there, and that your own supporters are saying nice things about you does matter. But things stand as they are. You have to accept it with grace. How are you going to stop people in the street? You try to close that door if you start concentrating on yourself, he continued.
When you begin to concentrate on yourself, you attempt to close that door: Jasprit Bumrah
Bumrah, who won the T20 World Cup 2024 Player of the Tournament award, stated that the players supported Hardik through a difficult time.
“Simply telling someone to “simply not focus on it” is not enough. You can hear them screaming, but the inner circle comes to your aid. As a team, we don’t support, encourage, or believe that is appropriate in any way. The world is free to think as they like now. His family will always be there for him, we as a team told him when we were speaking with him. There are some things you can’t control. Bumrah said, “If it happens, it happens.”
Through his brilliant performance in the T20 World Cup, Hardik was able to win over his detractors. Bumrah advised his Mumbai Indians and India teammate not to take it too seriously, though, since one poor outcome might send everything spiralling downward once more.
Now that we’ve won the World Cup, that story has evolved. It is not something you should take seriously. because everyone is praising one another once more. It does not imply that it is the final word. If we lose another game a few days later, the story may be different. The 30-year-old stated, “You realise that’s just the way things are.”
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“You now realise that, because we participate in such a well-liked sport, these experiences are common for athletes. You observe football fans jeering the world’s top players. This is a necessary aspect of being a sportsman; bad things will happen occasionally, and it may not always be fair, but that is life. We’ve had an amazing life, and we’re succeeding both personally and in our sport. All these difficulties will arise, but if you approach them correctly, they will go more smoothly,” he said.
India
