Two months before the start of IPL 2022, at the grand auction in Bengaluru, Gujarat Titans didn’t necessarily catch the eye of the cricketing purist with their bidding strategy. Their top 5 bids, apart from the three significant retentions, had names that were considered unpredictable, at best. Yet, what many purists, including yours truly, didn’t account for is the factor of cohesiveness, which so often is the intangible hero in team sport. Under Hardik Pandya, right through the IPL 2022, the Titans showcased themselves as a ‘unit’ marshalled by a completely transformed captain. Yes, I am using the word ‘transformed’ because before the start of the IPL, not even the most die-hard fan of Pandya would have seen the outcome the way it unfolded on May 29.
FORGETTABLE 2021
There was a reason for the heightened pessimism prior to the start of IPL 2022. Barely twelve months ago, Hardik endured one of the most forgettable IPL seasons of his career. Playing for Mumbai Indians, he managed to score just 127 runs in 12 matches at an average of just 14 and a strike rate of 113. To top it all, he decided against bowling to avoid risking his recurring back injury. No wonder then, Mumbai Indians decided against retention as they felt his value was dipping after seven long years at the franchise.
HORROR WORLD CUP
Despite the horror show in last year’s IPL, Pandya managed to sneak into the Indian team for the T20 World Cup played in the UAE. Unfortunately, that was another miserable outing not just for India, but for Pandya himself. As India failed to make it to the semi-finals, questions and eyebrows were raisedeverywhere. Why Pandya was picked ahead of other names was a talking point. Not a single Indian player made it to the ‘ICC Team of the Tournament’,a blot on India’s T20 riches. Personally, for Pandya, the cricketing world had passed its verdict – We have seen the peak of Pandya and his comeback would be a miracle, if anything. Against this backdrop, his retention by Gujarat Titans came as a shocker. Rs 15 crore for a player at the lowest point of his career didn’t seem a wise move at all. That move wasn’t met with enthusiasm even by the fans of the Titans.
FALLING APART WITH MI
Things got worse shortly afterwards when Pandya fell apart with Mumbai Indians and his ‘souring’ relationship with Rohit Sharma meant he would publicly ‘unfollow’ MI on their Instagram page. Even though neutrals argued that Pandya had moved on to a new franchise and therefore unfollowed the old one, the tension building between him and his old franchise, where he spent 7 years of his illustrious career, was palpable.
Despite his new contract, Pandya was clearly encircled by troubles, uncertainties, wounds, loneliness, and self-doubt. In just two months however, these five words gave way to renewed confidence, leadership, resolve, resilience and self-assurance. Welcome to Pandya II and quite dramatically.
There was scepticism even before the final of IPL 2022. That Pandya had scored only 29 runs and taken no wicket in 4 IPL finals prior to this edition, has been more than emphasised. However, it took just 4 overs of bowling and 40 minutes of batting to change it all. ‘Player of the match’ in the final and ‘Captain of the tournament’ (although there wasn’t an official award for this) were the outcomes of a ‘home’ journey that began a few months ago.
HOW DID THIS HAPPEN AND QUITE DRAMATICALLY?
Going by what Pandya said in the post-match chat after the IPL 2022 title, the answer lies in the family. “I live and feed on love, which I keep getting from my family.” And that was evident when his better half, Natasha Stankovic gave the all-rounder hubby a long, emotional hug soon after the gigantic feat at Ahmedabad. The transformation was complete, but the process was visible in those brief moments. Pandya had transformed physically, mentally and emotionally to emerge fitter and stronger than ever before. Hardik Pandya II is now born and set to lead.
WHAT NEXT FOR HARDIK?
Ironically, Pandya shares the comeback story with another charismatic player, who had an equally emphatic run in IPL 2022 – Sanju Samson. Samson’s captaincy and calm demeanour in the middle of pressure situations has won him accolades. Ironically, two of the least celebrated players for Team India in recent times have become the best captains of IPL 2022.
HOW DOES THIS IMPACT INDIA’S T20 WORLD CUP PREPARATIONS?
The Indian selection thinktank was guilty of making some poor selections for last year’s World Cup in the UAE. The selectors had bungled by dropping players like Dhawan, Chahal and Harshal Patel, who were clearly masters of their craft and could trouble any team at any level. Those decisions haunted India as the team lost to Pakistan for the first time ever in a World Cup event of any format. One more loss at the hands of New Zealand cut short India’s miserable campaign. The selectors should learn lessons from that bungle and reset India’s squad for this year’s T20 World Cup down under. After all, IPL is the biggest T20 format in the world and is also considered fiercely competitive. Good performances in the IPL can translate into good performances for the national team too.
TIME TO LOOK PAST VK AND RG?
With four months to go for the T20 World Cup, the Indian selectors need to bite the bullet. The big decision first up should be whether we send a young team or continue to depend on the veterans? Without discounting the factor of experience, the message should be loud and clear. No place for non-performers. Even if it means the likes of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan and Rishabh Pant are not performing consistently at the desired levels, the axe should be out. We compromised during the 2021 World Cup by sending a jaded squad and should not repeat the mistake.
SHOULD INDIA SEND A TEAM OF YOUNG GUNS?
The Gujarat-Rajasthan show in IPL 2022 has clearly shown we can invest in a good captain-vice captain duo, and we have the wherewithal to send a dynamic young team who could just upstage the favourites in Australia. Great results require tough decisions and if India are to challenge for the T20 world title for the first time in 15 years, this is the moment to take calculated risks. My vote would be to go for something dramatic and do the unthinkable. Pandya for captaincy and Samson for vice captaincy. If ‘Kapil’s devils’ could do it with the underdog status in 1983, ‘Pandya’s dynamites’ could well emulate the feat in 2022 with a similar tag before the tournament. For that tag, key decisions are needed, and it remains to be seen whether the selectors have the gut for gut-wrenching calls. I have made mine though.
MY TEAM OF 18 FOR THE T20 WORLD CUP BASED ON IPL 2022
Shikhar Dhawan
Yashasvi Jaiswal
Ruturaj Gaikwad
KL Rahul
Shubman Gill
Suryakumar Yadav
Sanju Samson (Vice Captain)
Hardik Pandya (Captain)
Tilak Varma
Dinesh Karthik
Ravichandran Ashwin
Harshal Patel
Prasidh Krishna
Yash Dayal
Umran Malik
Yuzvendra Chahal
Jasprit Bumrah
Md. Shami
The author is a sports commentator