IND vs SA 2019: Hardik Pandya Confident about His Fitness ahead of South Africa Series

India all-rounder Hardik Pandya wasn’t included for the West Indies series after the ICC World Cup 2019. During this time, he worked hard on his skills. Recently in an interview with IANS, he shared an update on his fitness, upcoming challenges against South Africa and managing his workload as an all-rounder.

“It was important for me (the break) as the IPL was long and then the World Cup followed and I had a good run in both the tournaments. So, I was looking to give it my best and that required my body to take some rest as precaution is better than cure and that is when the call was taken by the team management that I come back fully fit for the South Africa series,” he said.

Pandya earlier had a back issue that troubled him. But he doesn’t want his back issue trouble him any more in future. The rest has helped him to become fit. He used to do pilates and that has helped him very much. While he was asked if he has any specific goals from the upcoming series against South Africa, Hardik Pandya said he doesn’t set any goals and believes in magic. He further said that he lets his game speak.

“To be honest, I don’t keep goals because I let something out of the box happen. I just focus on preparing well and focus on the areas I wish to work on. I think that magical things do happen.” he added.

However, being an all-rounder it is not easy to manage the workload as they need to focus equally on batting and bowling. That is why he needs to be fully fit.

“It is a little difficult because the thing I do as a batsman is then replicated as a bowler. So, I bowl the same amount of balls that a bowler bowls and then I bat for as long as a batsman will to help keep my game on point. That is why it is important for me to be super fit.” he said.

But the coach Ravi Shastri and captain Virat Kohli called him the X-factor and that brings the best out of him. Even he shared that backing increases the confidence as well. He loves to enjoy the game so that the pressure becomes decreases.

“Whenever I have come back, I have come back strongly and I feel that my work ethics have helped. When it comes to my game, I let my performance do the talking. I wish to improve every series that I play in. I look at not just my game, but also my fitness. It is an instinct that I wish to do well every time I take the field,” he expressed.