All-rounder Hardik Pandya is one of the key players of the team but in recent times, he had faced a rough patch due to his injuries. Moreover, he had faced a suspension by the BCCI in 2019. Notably, both Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul were suspended for their comments on a TV show.

Due to that, Pandya missed India’s tour of Australia and New Zealand and he also faced a slam from the public as well. Hardik Pandya also revealed the struggle he faced despite coming into the tournament after his suspension.

While speaking to Cricket Monthly, he said: “When I heard I was going to get suspended, a lot of cricketers who knew me personally, who knew what kind of an individual I am, they went out and spoke about it, which is fine. They thought I was done. I heard lots of people saying, ‘Hardik’s done, he won’t be able to cope with this.’ Because I was the bad boy of Indian cricket at that time.”

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Hardik Pandya did well after coming back, scoring 402 runs at a strike rate of 191.42 at IPL 2019. Apart from that, he picked up 14 wickets as the Mumbai Indians won their 4th title. Pandya has revealed how he struggled to concentrate after that situation.

“At the Chinnaswamy [Bengaluru], while practising, I was missing the ball by this much (shows a wide gap). Because when this is not right (points to head) and when you question yourself, things just go wrong. That day I cried during training because there was a lot of emotion. Because of how I was portrayed [after the talk-show incident]. I was never that individual. I was not able to concentrate on my sport because there was a lot of expectation from myself, leave anyone else,” Hardik Pandya concluded.

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He also mentioned that coach Mahela Jayawardene and his brother Krunal Pandya had played important roles in helping him get through that situation as well.