Hardik Pandya hits back at trolls for the 1st time after becoming Mumbai Indians' captain, reveals update on comeback

The last couple of months have been an absolute topsy-turvy ride for India all-rounder Hardik Pandya. It all began with an unfortunate injury against Bangladesh in the ODI World Cup at home.

He was having a good campaign before sustaining an ankle injury. The injury ruled him out of the remainder of the competition. And although India did not miss him much in the remaining league games as well as the semifinal, they missed his services in the final where Australia beat them by six wickets.

Soon after the World Cup ended, he faced severe criticism from fans after being appointed as the captain of Mumbai Indians. The all-rounder decided to leave Gujarat Titans despite being their captain and enjoying two successful seasons. He faced criticism for that move as well before the fans came down hard on him when Mumbai Indians replaced Rohit Sharm with him as their captain.

However, the criticism has not affected Hardik Pandya much as he made it clear that he is in a peaceful state of mind right now. On Monday (January 22), he took to Instagram to share a series of photos of himself engaging in exercise and practicing yoga. Sharing the photos, he wrote: “Peaceful start to my week”

 

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A post shared by Hardik Himanshu Pandya (@hardikpandya93)

Hardik Pandya’s return date:

With India not to play any limited-overs games before the IPL, Hardik Pandya is unlikely to play any international game before IPL 2024. Team India is currently preparing for the five-match Test series against England. The series is scheduled to start on January 25 and end on March 11.

Hardik Pandya is likely to make his much-awaited return to action during the IPL. As per reports, IPL 2024 is scheduled to be played from March 22 to May 26. The star allrounder would be desperate to hit the ground running on his return and enjoy a successful season with Mumbai Indians.

The five-time IPL winners have not progressed to the final since winning the title in 2020 and would be hoping that a change in captaincy changes their fortunes as well.