Hardik on winning battles against his demons

As he got down to plot his return to the Indian team, Hardik Pandya would hit the bed at 9.30pm and wake up at 5am, dedicating the day's intervening period to win battles against "himself" and the doubting Thomases.

The star all-rounder strictly followed this time table for four months, after which he guided an unfancied Gujarat Titans to a memorable title triumph in only their maiden IPL outing, leading the debutants from the front to earn an India call-up.

"I was happy. It was more about the battles I won against my own self and a lot of other things as well. Winning the IPL, or even qualifying (for playoffs) was a big deal for me because a lot of people doubted us,” Pandya said in a video posted on BCCI’s Twitter handle.

"A lot of people frowned at us before we started. A lot of people raised a lot of questions. A lot of things were said about me even before I made a comeback," Pandya said.

The 29-year-old all-rounder said he did the hard grind four successive months during his time away from the Indian team after the T20 World Cup.

"It was never about giving them answers. I'm just proud of the process I followed. No one knows what I went through the six months that I was off. I've gotten up at 5 in morning to make sure I train. I slept at 9:30 in the night for fourth months, so (there was) a lot of sacrifice.

"It was the battle I fought before the IPL. I have always worked hard in my life, and it has always given me the result I wanted," added Pandya.

He also said the ongoing series against South Africa is the ideal platform to get into the groove for the upcoming T20 World Cup.

"Every series or every game you play is as important as your last. So, for me, World Cup is the goal, this is the right platform to get into the rhythm and a lot of cricket is going to come back-to-back. Always being in the rhythm is very important.

"My role will be changed here, I won't be captain, I won't be batting higher up the order and guiding through the innings. This will be back to being the Hardik for which I am known for," Hardik said.

Coming back into international cricket after a long layoff, Hardik fit seamlessly in the finisher's role, smashing 31 not out from just 12 balls in the first T20 against the Proteas.

In the IPL though, he had batted at No. 4 for Gujarat Titans.