Luck comes to people who work hard: Hardik Pandya

India have continued their winning form in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024. 

After defeating Afghanistan in their first Super Eight game in Barbados, they were again on the money and scored 196/5, batting first against Bangladesh in Antigua. In the chase, they never allowed Najmul Hossain Shanto's team to put incremental pressure and stopped them 50 runs short of the target. 

Hardik Pandya was right at the front of things for India with the bat. He built on the platform provided by the other batters and took India to an above-par total on the pitch. This performance follows some strong performances earlier in the World Cup as well. 

Read: Hardik Pandya is back in India blue, and so are the fortunes

"I think we've played really good cricket, we've stuck together and really executed our plans," Pandya said. 

"At certain situations everyone has stepped up. I did realise batters wanted to use the breeze. Just making sure I didn't give them free hits where the wind was blowing, it was about being one step ahead of the batter. 

For me, I've always been very fortunate to play for the country. It was a freak injury which happened [in the 2023 World Cup]. I tried to come back, but god had some other plans. 

The other day, I was speaking to Rahul [Dravid] sir, and he said luck comes to people who work hard. That has stuck with me, and I want to keep my head down and keep working hard,” the allrounder added. 

No Indian batter scored more than Pandya’s 50, however substantial contributions from Rohit Sharma (23 off 11), Virat Kohli (37 off 28), Rishabh Pant (36 off 24), and Shivam Dube (34 off 24) ensured that India crossed 190 against Bangladesh. 

Skipper Rohit highlighted this during the post-match presentation. 

“Our top score was 50, and we still got 196. In T20 you don't need fifties and hundreds, what matters is the pressure you put on the bowlers. That's how we want to play, that's how we want to encourage ourselves to play going forward as well,” the Mumbai batter said. 

“There is a bit of a [wind] factor that you need to take into account, and we were smart with the bat, and used the conditions well with the ball too. All eight batters need to play their role, whatever it is. 

Hardik batting well, the way he did today, puts us in a very good state, because we wanted to finish off well after the top five set up the platform. We all know what he can do, and today was the perfect example of that. He's a very important player for us, with bat and ball.”

India have four points after two games and are on top of their group. They will play their next and last Super Eight game against Australia on June 24 in Saint Lucia. 

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