Kamal Ghorui
Indian men’s cricket team all-rounder Hardik Pandya said he is feeling confident and motivated ahead of India’s ICC T20 World Cup opener against the USA. He believes his journey is only beginning despite completing 10 years in international cricket and feels he can become “really scary” as a player in the coming years, especially with the bat.India will begin their title defence at the Wankhede Stadium, where attention will be on Hardik. He has already established himself as a key player for India in major matches, and fans will be keen to see his role through the tournament.
Speaking in a video released by Star Sports, Hardik said he wants to win at least four or five more ICC trophies for India. He was part of India’s ICC T20 World Cup 2024 and ICC Champions Trophy 2025 victories and spoke about his mindset and ambition as a player.“I stand by it (on his earlier message of winning multiple ICC trophies at least for India). My journey has just started, it is not 10 years. This Hardik has 10 years of experience in life. More exciting and scarier. I want to win as many ICC trophies as possible and a minimum of 4-5 more for India, I will make sure to make it happen. The idea is to get better and stronger. I feel I will be very scary. The potential I have as a player, especially as a batter, I genuinely want to scare everyone now,” said Hardik.He added, “You buy things to use it, if you are scared then do not buy it. When I play, the catch I take is more expensive than the watch I wear. I play the sport, when the ball comes to me, it is more priceless than anything else I wear here or outside,” he said.During India’s T20 World Cup 2024 win, which ended an 11-year wait for an ICC title, Hardik scored 144 runs in six innings at an average of 48.00 and a strike rate of over 151, including one fifty. He also took 11 wickets at an average of 17.36. In the final against South Africa, he returned figures of 3/20, dismissing Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller.In the Champions Trophy win, Hardik scored 99 runs in four innings at an average of 24.75 and a strike rate of over 106, with a highest score of 45. He also picked up four wickets at an average of 35.75, with best figures of 2/31.
