'MS Dhoni is My Life Coach and Brother', Says Hardik Pandya
Hardik Pandya says that MS Dhoni is his life coach and brother.
India's Star allrounder cricketer Hardik Pandya considers the ongoing T20 World Cup the biggest responsibility of his career as a finisher.
In an interview with ESPNcricinfo's Cricket Monthly, the 28-year-old superstar, whose fitness is a concern heading into the event as he did not bowl in the IPL shared about the many challenges of his life.
He said, "The biggest so far, I will say, because this time I don’t have Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Everything is on my shoulders - I like to think that way because it gives me an added challenge. It is going to be exciting, a cracker of a tournament."
"MS was someone who understood me from the start: how I function, what kind of a person I am, what are the things I don’t like, everything. …initially there were no hotel rooms (for Pandya in New Zealand). But then I get a call, saying, You just come. MS has told us, 'I don’t sleep on the bed. He will sleep on my bed and I will sleep on the floor.'"
"He (Dhoni) was the first person who has been always there. He knows what kind of an individual I am. He knows me quite deep. I am very close to him. He is the only person who can make me calm.
"When all this (the TV remarks controversy) happened, he knew that I needed support. I just needed a shoulder, which he provided multiple times in my cricketing career. I never saw him as MS Dhoni the greatest. For me, Mahi is my brother," he asserted.
Pandya shared that there are times when he struggles to understand his own thoughts and it is Dhoni who comes to his rescue.
"…I have to call him and say, "Yeh soch rahan hoon, kya chal raha hai, batao." (This is on my mind. What do you think?) Then he will explain. So, yes, in a lot of ways he is a life coach. Staying with him, obviously, you learn to be mature, you learn to become humble," he elaborated.
"There is absolutely one thing clear in our family: if I’m wrong means I’m wrong; there’s no sugarcoating. That makes us a strong family because everyone can have an opinion. In our family if someone is flying, they make sure to pull them down."
"I don’t like easy situations. I love to be that guy who feels his best in a difficult situation. That confidence has come with time, acceptance of who I am, what I am, how I function. In the last two years I have started this new thing - if I score a zero, I will celebrate. I will celebrate because of simply one reason: that I have seen good days in my life. How can I value those good days more? I never celebrate on my good days," he quipped.
