Rejuvenated Hardik Pandya fights fire with fire

For over four months, Hardik Pandya didn't get to play international cricket. During those 131 days, he took the field only once to play a competitive match. Where even a drinks break can break a player's concentration, here was Hardik, having to sit at home or train on his own for reasons far removed from the cricket field.

The series of speedbreakers that jolted Hardik came one after another. It started with a back injury that ruled him out of the Asia Cup last September. He gradually regained fitness in the subsequent weeks and returned to the Ranji Trophy to test himself at the Wankhede Stadium against Mumbai. He bagged a five-for and struck a half-century amid loud cheers that are otherwise either non-existent or reserved for the home team.

He was soon back in the ODI side for the series against Australia in January, but was in for another jolt. Prior to the series opener, that Koffee with Karan episode aired on TV, leading to severe backlash on social media for his controversial remarks. Hardik, along with KL Rahul, was suspended by the BCCI and sent home from Australia. Another setback.

This time he didn't even have a definite time-frame for a return. The wait seemed infinite. Later that month, the suspension was lifted, and Hardik flew to New Zealand to play six international matches, but there was to be another twist. With under 100 days to go for the World Cup, he was hit by another injury: stiffness in his lower back that ruled him out of the entire home series against Australia, the last series India were to play before the World Cup.

Such intermittent breaks can shatter anyone's confidence and perseverance. Hardik is only 25, he has not yet acquired the wisdom players do after years of international cricket by going through multiple cycles of ups and downs. He is in the middle of one of those cycles right now, in fact.

Stuart Broad has admitted that one bouncer, from Varun Aaron in 2014, gave him nightmares for a long time and he had to work with a sports psychologist. Commentators say Broad is not the same batsmen anymore. One ball has changed it all for him.

Hardik, though, seems to have taken all his setbacks in his stride. He went to the NCA in Bengaluru, and he hardly got out of his house, he says. And then he had the IPL. In a tournament in which Mumbai Indians have usually been late starters, they've been a consistent top-four presence, a lot of credit for which must go to Hardik.

He has played the role of finisher to perfection this season, batting in the second half of the innings and providing late flourishes with his cameos. He has batted in all 11 Mumbai matches so far, remaining unbeaten five times and helping his team win on four of those occasions.

He has the second-best strike rate (182) this season among all batsmen who have faced at least 50 balls, behind only Andre Russell's 209.27. Despite batting mostly at Nos. 6 and 7, he has put together 264 runs at an average of 44, higher than anybody else's in his team.

After his Man-of-the-Match performance against Chennai Super Kings at home, he told Star Sports: "It has been seven months that I have hardly played games. I've just batted and batted and batted, and touch wood the game is getting improved. These seven months have not been easy. I was out and then I didn't know what to do."

His brother Krunal Pandya must have seen him at closer quarters than anyone else during the troubled times. "I myself learn a lot of things from Hardik - how to stay confident, to back yourself no matter what the situation," Krunal said earlier in the tournament. "Sometimes you doubt yourself too but I've not seen that in Hardik. He has that quality."

Hardik's clean hitting and his ability to helicopter away even accurate yorkers have been the result of a clear approach against the fast bowlers in the death overs. He sits deep in the crease, often moving across towards off stump, and clears his front leg so that balls in the blockhole can be scooped out over or wide of long-on.

"Earlier he used to smash spinners, now he is also doing the same to pacers," Krunal said after Mumbai's win against Delhi Capitals, in which Hardik hammered 32 off 15 balls, all against the fast bowlers. "He worked on that area during the off time he got and he is getting the desired results."

It reflects in Hardik's strike rate against pace too. This IPL, he has been scoring at a rate of 191 (218 runs off 114 balls) against pace, his best across seasons. His tactic to go deep in the crease helps him convert the yorkers into half-volleys, forcing the bowlers to rethink their lengths. This season, Hardik has smashed 77 off the 34 full balls he has faced from the quick bowlers, at a strike rate of over 226.

"For me it was important to keep hitting the ball well because I was away from the game for some time and coming back it was important for me to hit," he said in his first press conference after the talk-show controversy, after his unbeaten 37 off 16 against Royal Challengers Bangalore in Mumbai. "I wanted to improve and I got some time for my body as well and for the game. I think the time for which I was out, it's helping me right now because I'm in a good mindspace and everything is coming right."

The IPL will soon be over and Hardik will be flying to England for the World Cup. He will have long shed the baggage of injury and suspension, and will instead carry with him a large bundle of confidence.