“We don’t need to prove anyone” – Hardik Pandya gives a befitting reply to Michael Vaughan’s ‘India biggest underperformers’ remark

India’s star all-rounder Hardik Pandya is all set to lead the Indian team in the three-match T20I series against New Zealand starting from 18th November. It will be India’s first assignment after the T20 World Cup 2022, where they failed to reach the final after losing the semifinal to the eventual champions England.

Men in Blue have given the rest to the seniors, including the skipper Rohit Sharma, Virat Kolhi, and KL Rahul for the New Zealand tour. Hardik Pandya will lead the Indian side in the T20I series, while Shikhar Dhawan has been appointed as the skipper in the ODI series.

In the press conference ahead of the T20I series, the stand-in captain was asked about Michael Vaughan’s remarks, to which Hardik Pandya gave a solid response by saying that the Indian team don’t need to prove anyone while acknowledging the room for improvement.

In case you don’t know, the former English skipper Michael Vaughan criticized the Indian team massively after their semifinal exit in the recently concluded T20 World Cup 2022. He questioned India’s approach and termed them as the ‘biggest underperforming team’ in white-ball cricket’s history.

Hardik Pandya gives a classy response to Michael Vaughan

Ahead of the T20I series against the Kiwis, Pandya was asked about Vaughan’s remarks on Team India. The all-rounder humbly accepted that there is room for improvement but they don’t need to prove anything to anyone.

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 “Obviously when you don’t do well, people will have their opinion, which we respect. I understand people have different points of view. Being at the international level, I don’t think we need to prove anything to anyone. It’s a sport, you keep trying to get better and eventually when the result is supposed to happen it will happen. There are things we need to work on, going forward we will rectify and work on it,” said Hardik Pandya.

“There is a disappointment of the T20 World Cup, but we are professionals. We need to cope with it the way we cope with our success and move forward, look to get better and rectify the mistakes we made,” he further added.

Hardik Pandya also talked about the opportunities youngsters will get against New Zealand in the absence of the seniors. The all-rounder stated that he is excited to lead the young guys filled with talent and energy in the upcoming series. The stand-in skipper also talked about the next T20 World Cup and their approach to the mega event.

“The next T20 World Cup will be in two years if I’m not wrong so we have time. Till then, a lot of cricket will be played, a lot of people will have enough chances. The roadmap starts now but it’s quick (to make any comments). We’ll sit down and start having those conversations. Right now, it’s about letting the boys enjoy it, it’s a beautiful country to play cricket, we’ll talk about the future later,” concluded Hardik Pandya.

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