Hardik Pandya’s tough IPL 2024 key to his T20 World Cup 2024 heroics, claims Jonty Rhodes

Legendary South African cricketer Jonty Rhodes has showered rich praise on Hardik Pandya for his heroics in India’s ICC T20 World Cup 2024 triumph in the USA and Caribbean. Rhodes was particularly impressed with the way Pandya delivered in the final against South Africa in Barbados.

The Indian all-rounder had taken the prized scalp of Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller to completely shift the momentum of the T20 World Cup 2024 final against South Africa. Notably, India crushed South Africa by 7 runs to lift their second T20 World Cup title after 17 years in June 2024.

Jonty Rhodes hails Hardik Pandya’s heroics in T20 World Cup 2024 Final

Reflecting on Hardik Pandya’s performance, Rhodes highlighted the all-rounder's explosive impact both with the bat and ball. He mentioned that the way Pandya, despite facing adversity, stood tall and played a crucial role in India’s title triumph was nothing short of spectacular.

He further highlighted the importance of Pandya as an all-rounder, stressing his effectiveness depends on his ability to bowl at full pace, which is crucial for maximizing his value to the team.

The legendary cricketer further said that Pandya remains a vital cog to his team's success, and he showed that with his game-changing performances despite battling many injuries and pain in his career.

Hardik Pandya's efforts were equal to Jasprit Bumrah's in the final: Jonty Rhodes

Jonty Rhodes was quoted as saying by Sports Yaari: “Well, he's an important cog in any team when he's bowling well and/or when he's bowling at full pace and when he's batting. So, we know what he does with the bat. We've seen him batting up the order, down the order. He certainly has an impact wherever he plays, but he's also the kind of guy that is picked as an all-rounder and is seen as an all-rounder.

So, if he can't bowl at his full pace, you almost feel like you're not getting the best of Hardik Pandya, and then is he worth his place in the team? And he's certainly shown that at... and it's difficult for me to know exactly how much pain he was through and the injuries he's had to endure. You know, was he bowling full pace?

Could he do that without pain? But he's a kind of guy, and the key with cricket is partnerships, and we always talk about, we think, batting partnerships, but bowling in partnerships is so crucial because if Jasprit Bumrah had bowled his superb over and yet the next over goes four runs, then that good over was for nothing.”

Rhodes credits tough IPL 2024 for Pandya’s T20 World Cup 2024 heroics

Jonty Rhodes also noted that Hardik Pandya was going through a lot of pressure during the IPL 2024, where he faced a lot of hate and boos from the fans for replacing Rohit Sharma as the Mumbai Indians (MI). On a personal front, he was about to take a divorce from Natasa Stankovic.

Despite all these things, the India all-rounder stood tall and reserved his best for the T20 World Cup 2024. Rhodes said that the “tough IPL just boosted and strengthened him emotionally and mentally," which eventually helped him to become a stronger hero for India at the mega event.

Jonty Rhodes said that this season showed that Hardik can handle pressure situations because he was under a lot of pressure in the IPL 2024. In the end, the Proteas great said that this tough season played a key role in Hardik’s emergence as a hero at the T20 World Cup 2024.

Jonty Rhodes: Hardik Pandya was mentally & emotionally drained but the tough time that he had with Mumbai Indians during IPL helped him toughen up (for T20 World Cup) @hardikpandya7

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— Sushant Mehta (@SushantNMehta) September 3, 2024