Team India keeper-batter Ishan Kishan went to meet Hardik Pandya to congratulate him on the T20 World Cup 2204 win. The youngster hugged the star all-rounder uncontrollably and posted a video of the same on his official Instagram handle along with a heartfelt caption, labelling the Mumbai Indians' captain as a 'champion'.
After a torrid IPL 2024 season as the captain of the Mumbai Indians, the 30-year-old has been among the architects of India's World Cup win. He faced criticism on all cylinders after failing with the bat consistently as the Mumbai Indians finished last in the points table. He was especially outstanding in the final against South Africa on Saturday when he was tasked with defending 16 off the last 6 deliveries and gave away only 9 runs.
The Baroda-born cricketer was also responsible for breaking the game open with the wicket of Heinrich Klaasen when the Proteas were marching ahead in the contest.
Taking to Instagram, Kishan wrote the caption:
"You faced so many things these past few months yet you stayed calm and focused. And today bhaiya you got the result of your hard-work, honesty and sincerity. There’s so much more i feel and want to say but words will fall short. You are a champion and you are rare."
"A lot of things happened" - Hardik Pandya reflects on his last 6 months
Meanwhile, Pandya spoke about the struggles of his last 6 months and stated that he wanted to silence his critics by answering them on the field. He spoke during an interaction with PM Narendra Modi on Thursday:
"The last 6 months have been very entertaining for me, there have been a lot of ups and downs and the public booed me. A lot of things happened and I always felt that if I give any answer, it would be through sports... So I believed that I would stay strong, will work hard."
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