India star all-rounder Hardik Pandya has shared his thoughts on leadership, captaincy, injury setbacks and the criticism he has faced throughout his cricketing journey. Speaking candidly during a conversation on SGTV, Pandya revealed that while captaining India was a proud milestone in his career, he has always believed leadership is defined by actions rather than the title of captain.
Pandya missed India’s recent white-ball tour of England as he continued his recovery from injury. However, the 32-year-old remains focused on making a strong comeback and is expected to return to India’s ODI and T20I squads later this year. Reflecting on his leadership philosophy, Pandya said he never measured his success by the captaincy tag. Instead, he believes a player can influence a team through character, confidence and performance.
“When it comes to leadership, I never doubted myself. I don’t play for roles or the say on my name. It was always about knowing that I am a leader and having the presence where all 11 players will follow me if I ask them. I always believed you don’t need to be a captain to be a leader. You can be a leader as a player as well,” Hardik Pandya said.
The Gujarat-born all-rounder first captained India in a T20I against Ireland in Dublin in 2022 before leading the ODI side against Australia in 2023. Across both white-ball formats, Pandya has captained India in 19 matches, registering 12 wins. He has led the T20I side in 16 games, winning 10, while guiding India to two victories in three ODIs.
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Despite describing the opportunity to captain India as a dream come true, Pandya admitted that the emotional moment lasted only a few minutes before he shifted his attention towards improving the team’s performance.
“Captaining India is a huge honour. Every youngster dreams of representing the country, and leading the team is even more special. I enjoyed that feeling for five minutes, but after that my focus shifted to what we could do better as a team. I don’t hold on to these moments because cricket can change very quickly,” he explained.
Hardik Pandya Said “”I always get dropped not because of my runs, but because of my attitude…” pic.twitter.com/3uueJscBTa
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Pandya also opened up about the mental challenges of recovering from injuries. Rather than proving his critics wrong, the all-rounder said his priority has always been finding happiness and peace within himself.
“It was never about answering critics. What mattered was whether I was happy with what I was doing. I took time away because I wanted to refresh my mind and enjoy cricket again. Every bit of hard work during my rehabilitation was for my own happiness and peace, not to silence anyone,” he said.
The experienced all-rounder also addressed the perception that he has an attitude problem, insisting that his outgoing personality was often misunderstood during the early stages of his career. Pandya revealed that his colourful lifestyle and unconventional nature frequently led to criticism despite his performances on the field.
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“I’ve always been different. I liked colours, I enjoyed joking around and never fitted into the image of a traditional cricketer. There were times I was dropped because people thought I had an attitude problem, even though I didn’t even understand what that meant. I simply wanted to be myself,” Hardik Pandya said.
Having overcome multiple setbacks throughout his career, Pandya now appears determined to make another successful comeback. With India’s busy white-ball calendar approaching, the star all-rounder will be eager to regain full fitness and continue playing a key role for the national team in the months ahead.
