Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya made his first public appearance after announcing his divorce from Natasa Stankovic and losing the captaincy to Suryakumar Yadav. The Mumbai Indians captain spoke about the importance of fitness and asserted that everyone should start pushing their limits every day.
The last few days have been quite tough for the Indian all-rounder. Hardik Pandya, after being an important member of the squad in the 2024 T20 World Cup, has faced quite a few setbacks both in his career and personal life, which has made him the centre of attention.
Hardik Pandya, who was the vice-captain of the Indian team in the 2024 T20 World Cup and was expected to become India’s permanent captain, was not considered for the post. The BCCI and head coach Gautam Gambhir were not in favour of him leading the team due to his injury history and workload management.
Instead, Suryakumar Yadav was appointed as the T20I captain and Hardik Pandya also lost the vice-captaincy. Youngster Shubman Gill was appointed as the new vice-captain of the team in the white-ball formats and speaks of the long-term goals of the Board of Control for Cricket in India.
On the personal front, Hardik Pandya announced his divorce from Natasa Stankovic. He announced it through a social media post. Following that, the all-rounder made his first public appearance on Saturday (July 20) at the launch of his sportswear brand. Hardik Pandya spoke about fitness and stated (as per PTI):
“When our body doesn’t get tired, our mind gets tired. So a lot of times in my life, the difference between when I was able to push my limits was always the fact that when my mind got tired, I told my body to push itself because there’s always going to be extra effort on your body. The difference between if you do 20 and if I do 20, we’re on the same level. But if I get to 25 and if I challenge my mindset, next time I’ll do 25, next time I’ll do 30.”
“The fact that sometimes it is also very important to clear the mind, that the body has much more than you can think, and that video (which I saw when I was 16) stuck with me for so long that, every time my trainer told me to do 10 push-ups, I always ended up doing 15. And that has tested my limits and I think that, little by little, everyone who wants to start a fitness path should focus on that.”
“Start breaking through your barriers every day” – Hardik Pandya
Hardik Pandya further highlighted how physical exertion helped him increase his pace. The multi-talented athlete, speaking about pushing the limits, said:
“Start pushing your limits every day, because the human body is such a beautiful creation of God that it will mold itself the way you want it to, the way you want it to, it just takes a little bit of hard work. I never knew what fitness would do to me, but I felt like I always wanted to be number one in everything I did, so as a habit, I kept training a lot when I was young, I pushed myself a lot, I ran a lot, so I had a very good and solid foundation.
“I didn’t have much knowledge about the body and how to improve my fitness, but because my core was strong and I did the basic exercises that you’re supposed to do during training, that helped me when I got to the top level. I used to throw, if I’m not mistaken, 130 pounds; higher 130 pounds, I could go up to 140 pounds or more, 142 pounds if I pushed myself. That’s when I realized that, in 2017, it was nothing to do with my body, with more knowledge about it, and that’s when I started putting in the effort.”
Hardik Pandya has been called up to the Indian squad for the T20I series against Sri Lanka but will not be able to take part in the ODIs. India’s tour to Sri Lanka will begin with a T20I series on July 27.