- Tuesday, March 11, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
India all-rounder Hardik Pandya was at his cricketing best in the clash against arch-rivals Pakistan in Asia Cup at Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Sunday (28) and helped his team to win by 5 wickets.
It was a story coming full circle for Pandya who was stretchered out of the same ground in a match against Pakistan at the 2018 Asia Cup after sustaining a serious back injury and took years to regain his bowling rhythm. On Sunday, Pandya picked three crucial Pakistan wickets before belting 33 not out in 17 balls to take Team India home.
He later tweeted a combined picture of the 2018 incident and the 2022 heroics saying “comeback is greater than setback”. The post took social media by storm and former Pakistan pacer Mohammad Amir, who retired from international cricket in 2020 at the age of 28, reacted to it saying in a tweet, “Well played brother” followed by a clap emoji.
Well played brother ? https://t.co/j9QPWe72fR
— Mohammad Amir (@iamamirofficial) August 29, 2022
Pandya also said during a post-match chat with Ravindra Jadeja, with whom he scripted a match-winning partnership, “I can remember those scenes where I was taken on a stretcher and it was the same dressing room. So there is a sense of achievement with whatever has happened. As players, we get the fruit but I would like to credit Nitin Patel and Soham Desai (team physios) who have worked so hard on me for my comeback.”
