Believe, believe: Hardik Pandya’s magic words to Virat Kohli during the run-chase against Pakistan

India pulled off a sizzling win in their T20 World Cup opener against Pakistan as Hardik Pandya and Virat Kohli delivered a stunning display of chemistry.

Well, whenever someone delivers a special effort in a match as big as India vs Pakistan, quite obviously, there are a lot of questions that follow. While the media was busy interviewing Arshdeep Singh for such a cracker of a spell, Hardik Pandya gathered around a few reporters and sat on the ground to give an interview of his own.

Talking about how he would have felt if India lost their encounter against Pakistan, Hardik said, “I said it. Even with three balls left, I told the boys, 'Even if we lose the game, it's okay.' I said I am proud of the way we fought in the game. We have been a team that has worked very hard individually, together, and collectively. So even if we had lost the game, I would have still had a smile on my face and would have just said we gave it everything, and they were just good on that day.”

He further added, “Somewhere down the line I have accepted the fact that this sport will give me ups and downs. The more ups I have the better, but even the downs I will cherish because failure teaches you a lot of things."

When asked about what Hardik’s ‘believe believe’ chant to Kohli hinted at, the Indian all-rounder said, “This quote is about believing in yourself and your ability. There are so many distractions: the opposition, the pressure, the fear of failure, everything. If we don't believe in ourselves, I don't think what we did would have been possible.”

“For me, it was very important that even if we are struggling, it's okay. We have to believe that we are going to hit the next ball. That's the only thing I was telling Virat: we are going to do it no matter how ugly we look. It's okay. But we will do it, and I think that carried on. That's the reason why we were able to build a partnership even when we were struggling. We don't think this was a fluent innings, but it was very important for us to fight it out and get the result we were after”, concluded Pandya.