Hardik Pandya version 2.0, dependable all-rounder and astute captain
India Today
Hardik Pandya captained Gujarat Titans (GT) to victory in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022. Would people have perceived the same back in 2019?
“Dear Mr. Player, Aaj main kar ke aai. No, not s*x, but a lesson on respect, gender sensitivity and s*xism, which is available to you for free. To help you understand that there is nothing ‘cool’ about your rampant misogyny. To help you realise that being a man has nothing to do with crass behavior.”
It’s been more than three years, more than 1000 days. Yet, Priya Malik’s hard-hitting words reverberate. That’s how powerful her words were. 2019. It was a year when one couldn’t have been blamed for thinking that Hardik Pandya’s career was done and dusted.
America’s Billy Graham once said, “When wealth is lost, nothing is lost; when health is lost, something is lost; when character is lost, all is lost”
Leave alone health, wealth and cricket, Pandya fought to restore his already-shattered character. Character blobbed with sprinkles of misogyny and sexism. He was in the shambles and even if he had made a comeback on the field, it would have been an arduous task for him to gain back his lost respect.
It was a chat-show, hosted by one of India’s renowned producers, who once promoted the likes of Shah Rukh Khan. The episode created a controversy to such an extent that it had to be removed from OTT platform Hotstar. But was it possible to delete it from the memories of people who questioned Pandya for his comments, which he seemed to have delivered with a lot of ease?
Come 2022, things may not be the same anymore, albeit the dreadful incident in 2019 hasn’t completely been erased from the memories. Back in 2019, had someone told that Hardik Pandya would lead an Indian Premier League (IPL) team to glory, people would have advised them to take up stand-up comedy as a profession. The gravity of the situation was such.
In 2022, Pandya is being deemed as one of the prospects to lead Team India in the future. On Sunday, May 29, he captained Gujarat Titans (GT) to victory in their maiden IPL season. Yes, you heard that right! Pandya is also a responsible father of a child with a dead drop gorgeous wife from Serbia.
