'I criticized him...' - Irfan Pathan humbled as Hardik Pandya puts critic in his place with T20 WC heroics

Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan lavished rich praise on vice-captain Hardik Pandya for his sensational performance in the T20 World Cup 2024. He admitted that he criticized Mumbai Indians captain a lot during the IPL but it was a special journey for him to lift the title. 

Hardik Pandya was the MVP of the Indian team in the T20 World Cup 2024. The all-rounder was one of the main reasons why the Rohit Sharma-led side ended their 11-year-long title drought and scripted history at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown Barbados. 

Hardik Pandya's turnaround from getting booed in the IPL to getting the loudest cheers in the Indian jersey was sensational. He turned up big time for his team in the T20 World Cup 2024 as he chipped up equally well with bat and ball and helped the team win a famous title victory. 

Hardik Pandya made a huge impact for India in their title win as he made contributions for the team in every that team played. He also defended 16 runs in the last over of the final to help the team win. The all-rounder scored 144 runs at an average of 48.00 and a strike rate of 151.57 in six innings and was even more exceptional with the ball. He bagged 11 wickets in 25 overs at an economy rate of 7.64. 

Irfan Pathan hailed Hardik Pandya's comeback, saying that the all-rounder showed a lot of character and made a huge difference to the Indian team in the T20 World Cup 2024. Speaking on Star Sports, he explained: 

"It's been a special journey for Hardik Pandya. Coming back from all the criticism, I was actually the one who criticized him because he was not performing during the IPL time. He was making a lot of mistakes at that time."

"From there to coming back and winning the World Cup has been special. He showed the character, he performed. With Rohit Sharma, with Jasprit Bumrah, the kind of performance he did to make a difference to the Indian cricket team has been so special." 

Journey is very similar to Hardik's - Irfan Pathan correlates his career with India's vice-captain 

Irfan Pathan correlated his journey with Hardik Pandya, remembering the difficult times he faced in 2007. He stressed that the Indian vice-captain also went through a lot and it's a special journey for him. He added: 

"When I see his journey leading up to this World Cup, it reminds me of my journey as well because I remember I was dropped from the team before the 2007 T20 World Cup. I was playing for India A in Zimbabwe and Kenya. I was actually going through a hardship where I really struggled with my body and hard work," 

"I remember going to the MRF Pace Foundation and working in the quietness, and that journey is very similar to Hardik's because he went through a lot as far as performance, criticism and booing are concerned. It's been a special journey to remember for a lifetime," he concluded.