"He wanted to celebrate his failure" - Chetan Sakariya shares inspiring story about Hardik Pandya

Left-arm pacer Chetan Sakariya has already played international cricket for India, having made his debut on the 2021 tour to Sri Lanka. India sent a second-string side to the island nation as their senior squad stayed back in England to prepare for the Test series.

Chetan Sakariya recalled an instance when Hardik Pandya was dismissed cheaply and how surprised he was to see the all-rounder react to that failure. The left-arm pacer said that Hardik took the team out for dinner because he wanted to ensure he doesn't forget that day.

Speaking exclusively to Sportskeeda, here's what Chetan Sakariya had to say about the inspiration that he got from that incident involving Hardik Pandya:

"Hardik bhai's mindset really helped me during my tough time. He really enjoys his game and I learned from him how to accept failures. When we were in Sri Lanka, Hardik bhai was dismissed for a duck in one of the games. Yet, he took us out for dinner. He said that he wanted to celebrate his failure. He also said that he wanted to remember this day so that he doesn't get affected by it.

"I got inspired by that mindset and realized that if I continue to focus on my process without stressing much about the result, things will eventually work out."

Chetan Sakariya had a good 2022/23 Ranji Trophy season for Saurashtra and many expected him to have a breakout IPL 2023 season, especially after the promise that he had shown in the previous editions.

However, he couldn't quite hit the ground running for the Delhi Capitals (DC) and got to play just two games. Here's what he had to say about his thought process and how he countered the rough patch:

"I had done well in domestic cricket and ahead of the IPL 2023 season, I was expecting to get a lot of gametime and felt I would have a good tournament. But then I had a setback in the first game as I didn't bowl well and didn't stick to my plans.

"We had a very good pace attack and in IPL you have to make most of your chances, which I didn't. I couldn't sleep for a couple of days, but later I accepted that it was a part and parcel of the game."

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Chetan Sakariya on Ricky Ponting and Sourav Ganguly

Quite a few questions have been raised about the DC management, particularly head coach Ricky Ponting, after they finished ninth in the points table. However, Chetan Sakariya believes the likes of Ponting and Sourav Ganguly were the reason why DC found a bit of momentum in the middle of the tournament despite losing the first few games.

On this, he stated:

"They (Ponting and Ganguly) are absolute legends in their own right and know exactly how to get the team out of a tough situation. I remember Ricky sir had kept a number of team bonding sessions and that really helped us during the time when we were losing games.

"I feel that was crucial for that phase where we got a bit of momentum and began to win quite a few games. So I feel they know how to get the best out of the players."

Only time will tell whether there will be some fundamental changes in the DC management ahead of next year's IPL.