After a lengthy spell away from the cricketing field, all-rounder Hardik Pandya is gearing up for a comeback in the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Ahead of his return to the Mumbai Indians (MI) franchise, Pandya made surprising remarks about his personal batting milestones. 

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Pandya said during a show that he does not believe in scoring 50s or 100s and that statistics were a waste of time for him. During the show, Pandya was quizzed about the number of half-centuries he had scored in the tournament. 

When someone from crowd shouted the answer, which was 10, Pandya was surprised and said: “I have that many? Wow.”

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pon being asked to pick his favourite half-century, Hardik replied to one of the audience member: “I don’t like the innings where we lost.”

After this, another person mentioned his 21-ball 60-run knock against Rajasthan Royals from IPL 2020, but it was also rejected by Pandya.

“We lost that too. I don’t believe in 50s or 100s. Stats are just numbers; it’s a waste of time,” said Hardik.

Pandya’s statement divided the internet akin to the way his national teammate KL Rahul did when he said strike rate was an overrated metric to assess a player’s performance. 

The Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) skipper last year said the obsession with strike rate should be taken into perspective by looking at the context of the game. 

“I think the strike rate is overrated. But it depends upon the demand, like if you chase 140 – you don’t need to go with 200 strike rate – it depends upon the current situation,” said Rahul. 

Pandya was last seen in action on the international stage during the ODI World Cup last year where he played a key part in India’s title hunt before being ruled out due to an ankle injury. 

After a lengthy time away from the game, Pandya appeared in a few domestic games last month and will be featuring for MI as IPL gets underway later this month. His surprise return to MI will be the talking point as he replaces Rohit Sharma as the captain.  

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