Dark Clouds Hanging Over: Will Hardik Pandya get to see some light?

'Hardik Pandya' This name has been in the spotlight since the end of last year's ODI World Cup in India, Albeit for all the wrong reasons professionally and unfortunately personally too. Going Back to mid-2023 things were rosy for him, He led Gujarat to the finals, and His form in India colors was good too.

Where did it begin to go Downhill?

Come the ODI World Cup in October 2023 the Men in Blue Were in Red Hot form, Starting with a bang against the Aussies to ruthlessly thrashing Pakistan. Hardik Pandya in these played a good part both with bat and ball.

On 19th October India was playing against neighbors Bangladesh, Hardik came into the attack in the 9th over and twisted his ankle. The atmosphere was tense at that time in Pune until Kohli came to bowl the remaining three deliveries.

The Anxious Wait

The World Cup went on the Men In Blue were winning games like Walk in the Park, but the people were anxiously waiting for an update on Hardik Pandya, there was nothing but hope and some vague predictions of him rejoining the team in the later stages of the World Cup. Pandya couldn't make it and was eventually ruled out of the tournament.

As the World Cup was over India agonizingly lost it, and the fans were just recovering from the loss when Hardik himself dropped a bombshell about his injury in an Interview stating "My Injury was just for a short period", This raised many eyebrows among the fans questioning the NCA, their work ethics and the procedure. This debate soon died down as something big was on the cards looming large.

Pre-Auction and Post-Auction Chaos

The Focus quickly shifted from the World Cup Loss as the IPL Auctions were coming, however unlike other auctions, this time around an air of uncertainty took center stage and some unlikely surprises too were waiting to greet the fans.

A lot of rumors were swarming around that Hardik Pandya was getting traded to Mumbai Indians, this was a huge speculation as Rohit Sharma had just taken the Indian team to the World Cup finals. Even on the IPL front with a depleted bowling line up Rohit and co managed to qualify for the playoffs.

The Auction day arrived with some much-added 'Tadka' in it as no one knew what was happening as the reports emerged were contradicting. After a lot of discussions, and assumptions it was announced that Hardik Pandya Has Been Traded To Mumbai Indians From Gujarat Titans in a Full Cash Deal.

This news spread like wildfire but the fuel to the fire was added when it was announced that Hardik Pandya had Replaced Rohit Sharma as Mumbai Indians Skipper. People who were already unhappy with the trade deal got another reason to vent their anger and possibly the World Cup loss too.

The Saga Continued

After all the mess that happened no one knew what's gonna happen, some were expecting Rohit will skip the season, and Mark Boucher's comments on a podcast were not taken well by Rohit's better half. Meanwhile, Hardik Pandya became a punching bag for the people.

IPL 2024- The Final nail in the coffin

The Schedule for this year's IPL was announced, and the online abuse became more problematic the MI management couldn't do much nor did the players especially Rohit Sharma speak anything about the transition.

Mumbai had one of the strongest batting lineups this season, however, it all went downhill everywhere Mi went Hardik got welcomed by boos even at their home venue, Hardik couldn't do anything but just stand, hear, and make a painful smile.

MI looked lethal on paper but neither the on-field nor the off-field atmosphere helped MI. The result was MI had their worst-ever IPL season.

When Professional Life Affects Personal Life

This result meant abuse and derogatory remarks on Hardik went to a higher level, and the abuse slowly started to reach his family members his wife Natasa Stankovic became a victim of online abuse in March this year.

This whole saga has affected Hardik's personal life completely, according to rumors, Hardik Pandya and the Bollywood Actress Natasa Stankovic known to be a star couple are not on talking terms anymore and are heading for a divorce.

Will Hardik Pandya make a strong comeback only time will tell, as he is a very vital cog for India in the Upcoming T20 World Cup.