‘I warned him that he would get injured’: Shoaib Akhtar recalls his conversation with Hardik Pandya

Hardik Pandya has been brilliant in all the departments so far in the Indian T20 league 2022. But his injury woes have come back to haunt him. While his team Gujarat was facing Chennai on the 17^th of April, he could not take the field owing to some groin issues. The standing captain Rashid Khan spoke about the injury during the toss and stated that the team management has decided to rest him to avoid the risks of aggravating the injury.

The Indian star all-rounder’s career has already suffered due to his fitness concerns as he has missed on-field action for the majority of the last two years. The reports of his latest injury have again raised a question about his fitness. Amidst these reports, Shoaib Akhtar has given his take on Hardik’s injury troubles while recalling an interaction with him a few years back.

In a conversation with Sportskeeda, Akhtar said – “I have told Jasprit Bumrah in Dubai and even Hardik Pandya. They were lean like birds. They didn’t have back muscles. Even now, I have such good strong back muscles behind my shoulders.”

I touched his back; muscles were there but very lean. So, I warned him that he would get injured. But he said that he has been playing a lot of cricket. He got injured in the same match,”- he added.

Despite the injury woes, Akhtar feels that Hardik has the potential of becoming the biggest brand of Indian cricket. He also made clear that he sees the future T20 skipper of India in Hardik, after seeing his leadership qualities in the Indian T20 league 2022.

“Hardik Pandya can be the biggest brand in Indian cricket. He wants to be recognized as one of the keys cricketers of India,”- stated Akhtar in the conversation.