[In Pictures] "My #1! Everything I do, I do for you"- Hardik Pandya celebrates 2024 T20 World Cup victory with his son Agastya

Team India vice-captain Hardik Pandya celebrated the 2024 T20 World Cup triumph with his son Agastya Pandya after finally returning home. He has been on the road with the Indian side for the past month, participating in the World Cup in the USA and the West Indies.

The Rohit Sharma-led team put on a dominant show in the group and Super 8 phases and reached the final without losing a single game. They defeated South Africa in the summit clash in a thrilling encounter and lifted the T20 World Cup trophy for the second time.

India were in a dire situation at one stage in the second innings of the final when South African batter Heinrich Klaasen was in a rampant mood. He scored a 23-ball half-century. Hardik Pandya brought India back into the contest by dismissing Klaasen at that juncture. It proved to be a turning point in the match as South Africa lost their way from there and eventually fell short of the target by seven runs.

Hardik Pandya played a crucial role in India's trophy-winning campaign with brilliant all-round performances throughout the tournament. After reuniting with his family after returning to India, Hardik shared a couple of photos on his Instagram account. He gave fans a glimpse of his victory celebrations at home with his son. He captioned the post:

"My #1! Everything I do, I do for you ❤️❤️❤️

---

"From there to coming back and winning the World Cup has been special"- Irfan Pathan on Hardik Pandya overcoming a difficult phase

Former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan recently opened up about Hardik Pandya's difficult phase during IPL 2024. He admitted that he was among Pandya's critics at that juncture.

However, he felt that the Baroda all-rounder showed wonderful character to overcome the turbulent phase and performed exceptionally to help India win the World Cup. He said on Star Sports:

"It's been a special journey for Hardik Pandya. Coming back from all the criticism, I was actually the one who criticized him because he was not performing during the IPL time. He was making a lot of mistakes at that time.

"From there to coming back and winning the World Cup has been special. He showed the character, he performed to the T. With Rohit Sharma, with Jasprit Bumrah, the kind of performance he did to make a difference to the Indian cricket team has been so special."

Irfan also drew parallels between Pandya's and his struggles before the 2007 T20 World Cup by adding:

"When I see his journey leading up to this World Cup, it reminds me of my journey as well because I remember I was dropped from the team before the 2007 T20 World Cup. I was playing for India A in Zimbabwe and Kenya. I was actually going through a hardship where I really struggled with my body and hard work."

Irfan Pathan played a crucial role with the ball in the final of the 2007 T20 World Cup for India. He won the Player of the Match for his brilliant spell of 4-0-16-3.