I genuinely thought my career is over; pain never went: Hardik Pandya recounts 2018 injury

Team India's leading all-rounder Hardik Pandya is yet to make a comeback in international arena after taking an injury-forced hiatus from game after 2019 World Cup. Hardik Pandya's lower back injury returned to haunt him in 2019, ruling him out of action for more than six months until coronavirus pandemic forced cricketing activities to shut down. However, Hardik Pandya was raring to go as he provided a preview of his mighty batting ability in DY Patil T20 tournament before lockdown. w, ahead of possible resumption of cricket in India, premium all-rounder has admitted that making a comeback in longer format of game would be a challenge for him, owing to his injury and or reasons.  

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'I genuinely thought my career was finished'

Hardik Pandya recounted nearly career-ending injury horror in game against Pakistan in Asia Cup in 2018 and revealed that he had thought his career was finished n. all-rounder said that he had excruciating pain and was kcked out for 10 minutes, as he was stretchered out of ground. However, Hardik Pandya said that his body had gone into auto-recovery mode immediately after and that he was supposed to be rested after Asia Cup series but unfortunately picked up an injury. 

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Hardik Pandya on his comeback to Tests

explosive all-rounder, however, admitted that his comeback to Test side was highly unlikely, largely due to risk of his back injury. Hardik Pandya has played a total of eleven Tests in his career, with his last Test being in 2018. However, Hardik Pandya feels that he can compensate his absence from longer format of game by contributing significantly in limited-over formats of game, where he kws he is an integral part of Team India's line-up. 

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"I see myself as a back-up seamer for sure. After my back surgery, I don't kw, playing Test cricket right w will be a challenge," 26-year-old told 'Cricbuzz in Conversation'.

"If I was a Test player and didn't have game in white-ball cricket, I could go w and risk my back in Tests but I kw my importance in white-ball cricket.

"It has happened that I played Tests and n didn't do well in ODIs and T20s because my plus point is my energy," he explained. 

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