“I was able to go 140 plus, 142 by pushing” – Hardik Pandya opens up on his commitment to fitness and training

India’s all-rounder Hardik Pandya has opened up on his commitment to fitness and training. Pandya was ruled out of the ODI World Cup 2023 after suffering an ankle injury and then returned to action in IPL 2024. 

Pandya was booed by the Indian crowd throughout the IPL 2024 as he could not deliver the goods while leading Mumbai Indians. However, Pandya was able to turn the tables in the T20 World Cup 2024 as he delivered with both bat and ball.

The right-hander scored 144 runs in six innings at an average of 48 and a strike rate of 151.57 in the T20I showpiece. Pandya also scalped 11 wickets in eight matches at an average of 17.36 and an economy rate of 7.61. Ergo, he played an instrumental role in taking India to glory in the T20I showpiece.

Hardik Pandya said during a recent media interaction as quoted by PTI, “I used to bowl if I’m not wrong 130s; higher 130s, I was able to go 140 plus, 142 by pushing, that’s when I realised by 2017 or not as soon as I started getting more more into my body, more knowledge about it and that’s when I start pushing.”

“Start pushing your barrier every single day because the human body is such a lovely creation by god that it will mould however you want (it) to, however you want to have it, it’s just that it just needs little hard work.”

Pandya revealed it is imperative to be mentally fit to cope up with all the pressure and expectations.

“The point that it is very, very important to sometime clean your mind as well, that your body has much more than what you can think and that video (he watched as a 16-year-old) stayed with me for so long that, every time in my life, when my trainer is telling me to do 10 push-ups, I’ve always ended up doing 15. And that has pushed my limits and I think slowly, everyone who wants to start with a fitness journey they should focus on that.”

Meanwhile, Pandya was expected to lead India in T20Is but the team management has backed Suryakumar Yadav. Pandya is part of the T20I squad against Sri Lanka but he has been rested for the ODI series.