Hardik Pandya’s World Cup party continues, gets hero’s welcome in Vadodara’s roadshow

India all-rounder Hardik Pandya received a warm reception on his return to home city, Vadodara, for the first time after becoming T20 World Champion. A roadshow was organised to welcome Hardik in Vadodara on Monday to celebrate India’s T20 World Cup triumph.

Pandya, who was the vice-captain of the Indian team in the mega event, had a memorable campaign as he scored 144 runs in six innings at an average of 48.00 and a strike rate of 151.57. Meanwhile, he also played a crucial role with the ball for the team and filled the position of the third pacer in the West Indies leg very well. He claimed 11 wickets in eight games at an average of 17.36 and an economy rate of 7.64.

He also played a big role in the final for India with the ball and claimed crucial wickets of Heinrich Klassen, David Miller and Kagiso Rabada to help India lift an ICC trophy after 11 years.

During the roadshow, many fans gathered to give Hardik, who was on a bus alongside his elder Krunal Pandya, a warm welcome.

The open-top bus with the banner “Hardik Pandya – Pride of Vadodara” weaved its way past the streets filled with appreciative fans with huge posters dotting the entire stretch of the road.

The T20 World Cup turned out to be a redemption arch for Pandya, who was booed in every stadium across India during the IPL 2024 after he replaced Rohit Sharma as captain of Mumbai Indians. The star all-rounder, who was just making a comeback into the game after suffering an injury to his ankle in the 50-over World Cup last year, became a victim of online trolling during IPL as his team also finished at the bottom of the points table.

Following the win, Hardik gave an emotional response to his critics during his interaction with Star Sports, where he opened up on the last six months and how he controlled himself from breaking down.

“I just wanted those six months to return. I controlled myself a lot. I wanted to cry. But to all those people who were happy seeing me in pain during those difficult few months, I didn’t want to give them more reasons to be happy. And I will never give them that moment. Look at the opportunity that I got today, probably by god’s grace, I bowled the last over. I could not even imagine that. I’m speechless,” he said.