“We Have All Played Ranji Trophy”: When Hardik Pandya Was Unfazed About Absence of Spectators During IPL 2020

All the sporting activities were stopped in 2020 because of the Covid pandemic. Indian Premier League is generally played in the March-May window, but it started in September during that year. Keeping the situation in mind, the crowds were banned from entering the stadium during that season.

All the players were coming after a lengthy break, but Mumbai Indians’ all-rounder Hardik Pandya was more than excited for the same. He even said that the lack of spectators won’t play a big part as all the players are excited about returning to the field. Ahead of the tournament, a few players of the Chennai Super Kings tested positive as well.

Pandya has said that he will just listen to Mumbai Indians’ medical team’s advice as they are professionals. Talking about nervousness, he said that there will be no pressure at all as all of them have not played competitive cricket for a while.

When Hardik Pandya Was Unfazed About Absence of Spectators During IPL 2020

Pandya said that everyone has played in the Ranji Trophy and that’s why, they are accustomed to playing without any spectators. He although had acknowledged that fans in the stands motivate the players, but having cricket back was most important at that very stage.

“Will the absence of crowds affect him over the duration of the tournament? “It will be a different experience, but we have all played Ranji Trophy without fans and T20 cricket without fans,” Pandya had told ANI.

“Obviously the fans add to the cheering part and the support, but for us when we are playing, we don’t see much difference.”

Pandya had a major surgery in 2019 and he didn’t play much cricket as well. He revealed that working on his back was his biggest goal during the lockdown.

Hardik Pandya Played IPL 2020 as Pure Batter

Pandya played the whole IPL 2020 as a specialist batter only. He could not bowl a single over to manage his back problem. With the bat, he scored 281 runs at an impressive strike-rate of 178.98. Pandya could score just a single half-century.

Mumbai won the title that season despite Pandya not performing as an all-rounder. The same happened with Pandya in IPL 2021 as well, he was then released ahead of IPL 2022 mega auction.