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In a major boost to the Mumbai Indians (MI) ahead of IPL 2024, their new captain Hardik Pandya seemed to have returned to bowling fitness on Saturday.
Hardik shared a video on his Instagram channel of what he called his first ground. Although he didn't specify, from the video it looked like the Moti Bagh stadium ground in Vadodara, Gujarat, where his journey started.
Hardik spoke to the camera about his memories of the ground at the start of the video. It included some clips from his warm-up and then of him bowling a few balls in the open nets, where he looked quite close to 100 percent fitness.
Watch the video here:
It is also the home ground for the Baroda state team in India's domestic competitions. From Irfan Pathan and Yusuf Pathan to the young pacer Raj Limbani who's currently representing India at the Under-19 World Cup in South Africa, all have honed their skills at this ground.
It was interesting that Hardik Pandya was practicing in Gujarat, also the home state of the Gujarat Titans in the IPL. He captained the Titans to two back-to-back IPL finals (including the first title win in 2022) before leaving them for Mumbai Indians ahead of IPL 2024.
"I treat this as a temple" - Hardik Pandya
Speaking about the ground, he said that the lessons he received there at the start of his journey 17 years ago were 'priceless'.
"Good to be back to my... a place for, what do you call it, improvement. I treat this as a temple because of the amount of learning I have got on this ground. What it has taught me has been priceless. My journey started, if I am not wrong, from literally 17 years back on this same very ground. Feels good to be back," Pandya said in the video.
"I'll make sure I cover every single thing possible today and every day," he added.
IPL 2024 will reportedly begin on March 23, 2024, where he will be seen leading the Mumbai Indians.
