Hardik Pandya reflects on injury-ridden past, avers 'comeback greater than setback'

Celebrations continue after India’s five-wicket win over arch-rivals Pakistan in the Asia Cup 2022 as reactions about the victory continue to pour in. 28-year-old all-rounder Hardik Pandya finds himself in the middle of all praises and celebrations after his explosive batting knock helped India to begin their Asia Cup campaign on a high. Meanwhile, he took the internet by storm on Monday with a motivational post on his social media handles.

Pandya took to his social media and shared a collage of pictures, one from last night’s India vs Pakistan match, and another from the Asia Cup 2018. In the first picture, Pandya can be seen carried out of the ground on a stretcher. The incident took place during the previous edition of the Asia Cup in 2018 when Pandya fell to the ground while bowling his fifth over.

In the second picture, Pandya can be seen raising his bat in celebration after hitting the winning runs for India during their match against Pakistan at Asia Cup 2022. Sharing the post, Pandya said, “The comeback is greater than the setback”. Meanwhile, Pandya also spoke about his comeback after India’s win over Pakistan.

A look at the reactions to Hardik Pandya's tweet:

'You feel a sense of achievement': Hardik Pandya

"I was remembering it all. I was stretchered off at the same venue against the same opponent in the 2018 Asia Cup. You feel a sense of achievement because the things that have happened in the past, today I got an opportunity. The journey is beautiful. The fruits of our journey come to us, but behind the scenes, a lot of people do not get credit who walk along with us,” said Pandya, as per BCCI.

Watch Hardik Pandya being carried on a stretcher during Asia Cup 2018

A look at Hardik Pandya's comeback from the injury & what followed

It is pertinent to mention that Pandya played a limited amount of cricket in 2020 and 2021 due to surgery on his shoulder. After recovering from the injury, Pandya continued to have issues with it and played matches solely as a batter. He was also blamed and criticiced for India’s tragic run at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in 2021. 

However, he continued his recovery and went on to script a sensational comeback during the Indian Premier League season 2022. Ahead of IPL 2022, Pandya was roped in by the new Gujarat Titans franchise and was named as the skipper of the team. He returned to bowling full-time and created an immediate impact on the team. Courtesy of his all-round performance, Gujarat went on to claim their maiden IPL title in their first-ever season in the coveted tournament under Pandya’s leadership.