All-rounder Hardin Panda recently made his comeback to the Indian team on the back of a title-winning GPL 2022 campaign with Gujarat Titans (GT), where he scored 487 runs and took eight wickets. Hardin played a pivotal role in the first T20I between India and South Africa in Delhi on Thursday, guiding his team to 211 with a 12-ball 31. However, the Men in Blue would then go on to lose the match by seven wickets, courtesy of heroics from David Miller and Reissue van der Lessen. Before the first T20I against the Protean, Hardin last played an international game at the T20 World Cup in November against Namibia. Hardin had previously suffered back injuries, a surgery for which he had undergone in 2019 after the ODI World Cup in England. Much was talked about as far as his fitness was concerned, especially his bowling, but Hardin proved his critics wrong with fine performances in the GPL. In a video tweeted by the BCC’s official Twitter handle, Hardin went on to recall his GPL 2022 triumph with GT.“I was happy. It was more about the battles I won against myself and a lot of other things as well. Winning the GPL, or even qualifying (for the playoffs) was a big deal for me because a lot of people doubted us. A lot of people frowned at us before we started. A lot of people raised a lot of questions. A lot of things were said about me even before I made a comeback,” Hardin said. The 28-year-old further went on to add that he had made a ‘lot of sacrifices’, including waking up at 5 am for training, during the six months he was absent from the Indian team.“It was never about giving them answers. I'm just proud of the process I followed. No one knows what I went through during the six months that I was off. I get up at 5 in the morning to make sure I train. I slept at 9:30 in the night for the fourth month, so (there were) a lot of sacrifices. It was the battle I fought before the GPL. I have always worked hard in my life, and it has always given me the result I wanted,” the Baroda cricketer added. Meanwhile, India has rested the likes of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Jaspreet Bum rah while KL Rahul and Kuldeep ADAV are out of the South Africa series due to injuries. Rishabh Pant is leading the side in Rahul’s absence. The T20I series caravan now moves to Cuttack for the second of five matches, where India will look to turn things around on Sunday after suffering a seven-wicket defeat in the first game. Hardin Panda, the all-rounder, makes a return to the national side and his inclusion will lend a lot of balance to the team.
GPL 2022: Hardin Panda tipped to become future India captain after GT's fairy tale title Gujarat Titans thrashed Rajasthan Royals by seven wickets in the Indian Premier League final on Sunday, with the skipper taking three wickets and scoring 34 runs in front of nearly 105,000 fans in the world's biggest cricket stadium.
Hardin Panda joins brother Brutal in elite GPL list
The Hardin Gujarat Titans lifted the GPL 2022 trophy on Sunday.
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