“The goal is to win the World Cup,” India all rounder Hardik Pandya feels he has not achieve anything and has sights on the upcoming World Cup

Hardik Pandya is currently leading the Indian team in the T20I series against Sri Lanka at home as they have already won the first match in Wankhede in a very tight battle. Pandya who has been sensational in the shorter format of the game especially in 2022 also has plans of returning to Test cricket but he wants to take things slowly and be fully available in Blues and will later think about wearing the India whites again.

Pandya had a stellar IPL season as he captained the Gujarat Titans and won them the tournament in their first year. He played a pivotal role in the middle and adapted his game according to the situation and need for his team. He made a strong comeback to the Indian white ball teams but has not played a Test match since 2018 against England due to injury concerns and also to manage his bowling workload.

Ahead of the Sri Lanka series, Pandya was asked about his future in Test cricket to which he answered,”Let me be fully in blues first, then I will see about the whites.”

The Baroda based allrounder also shared that he is confident with his bowling workload and the measures that he needs to take to avoid another major injury that he has had earlier. When he was asked a question on the same, he replied, “I know the language of hard work. I have been thrown here and there. The only thing that has got me back is my hard work. How I am going to manage is through by hard work. Keep working hard; make sure I look after my body.”

He suffered from back injury and went under the knife in October 2019. He did not bowl after returning from injury and then gradually he started rolling the arm and now he is back to his usual self. But he needs to take special care of his back so that it does not reappear.

The 29-year-old’s return was magical as he had a massive 2022 where he excelled with the bat initially and later he found his rhythm with the ball aswell. A superb IPl meant that he was straight back into the Indian team for the World Cup in Australia. Although India did not win, Hardik had a great year returning to action.

“One year back, things were quite different, when I went out from the sport. It has been a magical year (2022) for me. Would have liked the World Cup to come, but that is part and parcel. Going forward, there is a lot to achieve; I have not achieved anything,” he said, reminiscing about the magical year that he had.

The Indian allrounder is hyped for more as he believes he has a lot more to achieve and with multiple World Cup coming in one after another, Hardik Pandya is pumped for the future. “Looking forward to the future. Multiple World Cups coming in multiple years. The goal always has been to win the World Cup.”