Pandya back to ‘king-size’ life

A little more than a year ago, the shiny black sports car that had powered Hardik Pandya to instant stardom was beginning to show signs of slowing down.

After a 12-month period in which he'd celebrated an Indian Premier League title with Mumbai, made his international debut and established himself as a key man in India's push for a World T20 title on home soil, Pandya hit the first major roadblock of his professional career.

The wheels weren't falling off, but road-weariness had certainly set in for the flamboyant allrounder, whose rapid rise and extravagant tastes off the field – what he labels a "king-size" lifestyle – had quickly earned him the nickname 'Rockstar'.

The downward slide started when the right-armer blotted his near flawless international record when he took a wicket with a no-ball in India's World T20 semi-final, the let-off allowing his IPL teammate Lendl Simmons to steal a tense victory for the West Indies and knock the hosts out of the tournament.

Image Id: 435379A262674A33AFF998ACF75FA262 Image Caption: Umpire Richard Kettleborough tells a dejected Pandya he overstepped // Getty

Pandya then endured a nightmare IPL campaign, mustering a meagre 44 runs and just three wickets from 11 matches before he was eventually dropped from the side altogether.

Compounding matters, a sledge once famously delivered to Mark Waugh – that he wasn't even the best player in the family – had become Pandya's reality; older brother Krunal, uncapped at international level, was thriving for Mumbai while the younger sibling languished on the sidelines.

Hardik soon lost his place in India's T20 squad as well and was even left out of their initial 'A' squad for the winter tour of Australia.

In less than six months, Pandya had gone from the new darling of Indian cricket – the hero of their miraculous final-over escape against Bangladesh at the WT20, the man who'd taken 3-8 in a crushing victory over fierce rivals Pakistan, the youngster touted as the nation's first great allrounder since Kapil Dev – to just another player trying to fight his way into the national side.

As evidenced by Pandya's trademark wicket celebrations, he was learning that what goes up must eventually come down.

Image Id: 38DD89751E054168A84A60A7F822FA63 Image Caption: Pandya's celebrates the scalp Shoaib Malik in a trademark fashion // Getty

"All the expectation, as it happens in India with a young bloke bursting on the scene, it just really got to him," Mumbai's former coach Ricky Ponting told cricket.com.au this week.

"You could see that he was really finding it hard to live up to the expectation that all of India bestowed upon him.

"We had to actually just leave him out of the last couple of games, it just got so difficult for him to perform.

"They're obviously built up really quickly over there and if you're not the right sort of person, you can get a little bit carried away with it. And to be fair, I think Hardik got a little bit swept away with the emotion of it all.

“He comes from a very poor background, I don’t think he’ll mind me saying that. He grew up in a little town and didn’t really have much and then all of a sudden you’re in an IPL team, the glitz and glamour that goes with that, making a bit of money and playing on TV in front of literally millions of people every other day.

"So you can see how it can get to them and you can see how quickly they get built up, but you can also see how low they go when they come down and it was a pretty tough time for him last year.

"I felt for him as a coach and tried to do whatever I could to get him through, but we just couldn't get him right last year, unfortunately.

"His brother had more of an impact on the tournament than Hardik did, so I'm not sure if that made it better for him or worse. To see his big brother going out there and outshining him probably made it harder for him."

But 12 months after Ponting watched his brash and hugely-talented allrounder fade away before his eyes, Pandya has his swagger back.

The now 23-year-old has opened the 2017 IPL with two stunning cameos with the bat; a 15-ball innings of 35no in a first-up defeat in Pune and then a match-winning 29no from 11 balls in Mumbai's thrilling victory over Kolkata on Sunday night.

It's the continuation of another significant upswing in Pandya's career following the disappointments of last year.

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Having earned a surprising late call up for the 'A' tour of Australia, Pandya showed his wares as a first-class cricketer last September with a defiant 79 against a swinging pink ball against Australia A in Brisbane, having come to the crease with his side on the canvas at 6-46.

While it was his only major contribution on a tour where he relished the mentorship of Indian great Rahul Dravid, national selectors were convinced Pandya was destined for bigger things, especially with the Test and ODI side screaming out for a genuine seam-bowling allrounder.

"Don't go by statistics alone," one BCCI source was quoted as saying before Pandya was handed his ODI debut just a month later. The youngster made a stunning statement in his return to the national side, taking three New Zealand wickets with the new ball and claiming the player-of-the-match award.

It was fitting as well, and surely more than just a coincidence, that it was the legendary Kapil who handed Pandya his first ODI cap. And in a serendipitous twist, Pandya’s maiden ODI came on October 16 – the same day Kapil made his Test debut 38 years earlier.

"The feeling, that moment, I will cherish that all my life," Pandya said later. "I will never forget that I got my cap from Kapil Dev."

A shock call-up to India's Test squad soon followed, as did the captaincy of the 'A' side that played the touring Australians in February, as well as an untimely shoulder injury that hurt his chances of a debut during India's exhausting season of Test cricket.

Now back in the competition where he first made his name two years ago, and experienced his darkest hour last year, Pandya has returned to his best. 

"He's ultra-talented, there's no doubt about that," Ponting says.

"He's a very, very hard hitter of a cricket ball later in the order (in T20 cricket) and he can bowl in the mid-130s or almost 140 kilometres-an-hour.

Image Id: 617C2858876E479B87D4FCFA81E93185 Image Caption: Pandya celebrates the wicket of Chris Lynn in January 2016 // Getty

"He's a talent, he's a bit of a showman ... and he's probably the best fielder in India as well. So he's a very complete all-round package.

"He's just a high-class allrounder. He can bat at the top in red-ball and white-ball cricket and he can open the bowling in both forms of the game.

"The obvious comparison (among Australian players) is someone like Shane Watson. He probably hits the ball as hard as Watto does, he's probably not quite as skilful with his overall technique as Watto is. But he's got good pace with the ball and he's learning with his variations all the time.”

Beyond the high-octane theatre of the IPL, which seems to perfectly suit Pandya's "king-size" personality, India have big plans for their young allrounder.

In October, then ODI skipper MS Dhoni tipped him to have a major role to play at the Champions Trophy in June, while Test captain Virat Kohli has long favoured a fifth bowling option in his side.

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And despite the exuberant exterior and reputation as an impact player in limited-overs cricket, Pandya says the Test arena is where he wants to be the most.

And his growing maturity as a man and a cricketer is underlined by how far he's come since that "very difficult" IPL campaign 12 months ago. 

"I was focusing on what people were saying about me," Pandya told ESPN last November. "They were saying 'he is not focusing on his cricket'.

"Until then I never used to worry about what outsiders said. But after making a name I was not used to people talking so much about me.

"Eventually it harmed me slightly. I was not focusing on things I should have focused on. Then I learned that if you are successful, people will say things and if you get affected it will not help. 

"So I learned I had to be slightly low-profile and mellowed down.

"Ricky was someone who from the start helped me. Someone like him saying good things about you was amazing. He was always there for me during practice sessions, giving throw-downs or talking.

"With him I was a different person, everything was new for me.

"Now, I think I belong here."

After the briefest of speed bumps, Pandya is back on the road to stardom again.