'Jo Aaj Gaali De Rahe...': Ishan Kishan Recalls Hardik Pandya's Prophetic Words Before T20 World Cup

Hardik Pandya quietly accepted the boos and abuses hurled at him during IPL 2024. Pandya kept his calm and focused on his cricket as he was fully aware that a series of good performances will result in praises from the same bunch of fans who seem to have lost faith in him.

Fast forward to July 4th and the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai erupted to the chants of ‘Hardik, Hardik’ as he lifted the World Cup trophy in front of a packed stadium.

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Pandya’s India and Mumbai Indians’ teammate Ishan Kishan was in close proximity to the allrounder as the duo also trained together in the lead up to the IPL. And he keenly observed how his senior responded to the criticism.

“I had a gut feeling that he (Pandya) was saving it all for the World Cup. I will never forget his words: ‘Ek baar performance aa jaaye fir jo aaj gaali de rahe wahi taaliyaan bajayenge (Once I start performing, those who are abusing me will be clapping for me). This is what he told me when I was also going through a really tough time. He said ‘let people talk, we will do our best and give 100 percent to the game we love’,” Ishan told The Indian Express.

Pandya has himself talked about the phase leading up to the T20 World Cup where he scored 144 runs and took 11 wickets including a game-changing spell in the final.

Ishan says Pandya never cribbed about the reaction from fans and instead was quite sporting about it.

“It is difficult to explain in words the past six months he has had, as there were all kinds of things said and written about him. But he never lost his cool. I was with him during most of that time – be it training with him in Vadodara or during the IPL – and I never heard him cribbing ki yaar, aisa kyun ho raha hai mere saath (Mate, why is this happening with me). He was calm about it, took it in a very sporting manner, and just focused on the game,” he said.

Ishan is proud of the way in which the 30-year-old dealt with the negativity and not be bothered about the things he cannot control.

“I remember Hardik bhai saying once during the IPL, ‘Jo haath mai nahi hai uske baare mey kya sochna. Log bol rahe hain, kyu bol rahe, wo sab control nahi kar sakte (Those things which are not in our hands, we can’t control. If I keep on thinking about what people are saying, I will lose it). The same bunch that has criticised me will celebrate me in the future and I just have to take it in a very sporting manner,’” Ishan said.