'To all Mumbai Indians...' AB de Villiers slams Hardik Pandya's critics after India's T20 World Cup 2024 triumph

AB de Villiers lavished praise on the No. 1 ranked ICC T20I all-rounder Hardik Pandya.

Following India’s win in the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 final, legendary cricketer AB de Villiers has slammed critics of Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya. Pandya was subjected to criticism during the Indian Premier League 2024 earlier this year, where he captained Mumbai Indians for the first time.

It was an emotional night for the Indian all-rounder Hardik, when he bowled a match-winning spell in the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 final against South Africa.

The Indian skipper Rohit Sharma handed the ball to all-rounder Pandya to defend 16 runs in the final over of the match. Pandya stepped up in the most important phase of the match as he defended 16 runs as the Men in Blue won the grand finale by seven runs against South Africa on June 29 in Barbados.

During the final, Hardik had bowling figures of 3/20 in his quota of four overs. The Indian vice-captain also picked two crucial wickets of Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller, which helped India seal the deal in the final overs. After defending 16 runs off the final over, Hardik went down on the ground and started crying.

During the post-match interview, Hardik couldn’t control his emotions and shed tears while recalling the past six months of trolling and the tough times he went through. Hardik finished the T20 World Cup 2024 campaign with 11 wickets and 144 runs to his name.

To all the Mumbai Indians fans he made us proud there: AB de Villiers on Hardik Pandya

All-rounder Hardik was traded from the Gujarat Titans to the Mumbai Indians ahead of the IPL 2024. However, this trade became the most talked about when he replaced Rohit Sharma as the captain of five-time champions MI for the whole IPL 2024 season.

During the IPL 2024, Hardik faced huge backlash from the Mumbai Indians fans and was heavily trolled across social media for his poor performance as player and as well as captain. However, Hardik remained tight-lipped throughout his tough phase of life.

Reacting to this, former South African cricketer de Villers slammed Mumbai Indians fans and said that Hardik made everyone proud there. De Villiers praised Indian cricket team vice-captain Hardik, saying that he is a man for big moments and has secured special spots in the hearts of all MI fans.

“What stands out for me are the big moments. A guy like Hardik Pandya who’s been through a roller-coaster himself with Mumbai Indians – moving from Gujarat to Mumbai – and all the criticism he coped with, getting the ball from the captain in the final of the T20 World Cup. That was his moment to go like, ‘You know what… all Indian fans out there, this is what I am about as a cricket player,” De Villiers said on his YouTube channel.

“He made everyone proud out there. Even though I did not want him to succeed like that, I look back and have a lot of respect for that. He is a big man for a big moment and that’s exactly the way he played. To all you Mumbai Indians fans out there who doubted him, I’m pretty sure he has secured a spot in your hearts for the future,” De Villiers said.

Here is the video:

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