Hardik Pandya : I have learnt from my mistake

Pandya put on 104 with Kedar Jadhav (90) for the sixth wicket to lift the hosts from 173-5 while chasing 322 for victory, before his attempted slog off pacer Ben Stokes resulted in his dismissal at a crucial juncture.

“As an individual, I feel we should all accept our mistakes and learn from it. I don’t think if I don’t learn from my mistake I won’t improve in my next game. The shot I played, I should not have. But I felt the asking rate was getting high and someone had to take chance,” Pandya told a news conference in Kapur where the first of the three T20I will be played on Jan 26.

“I felt Kedar was someone who should have stayed till the end, and I should be the one to take chances. In that process I got out, but next time I will rectify my mistakes and choose the right shot.

“It gives me a lot of confidence. To know that you had a good series, it helps a lot. As a player it was important that I start believing that I belong here and I can perform as well. It was pretty important for me and thank god it turned out to be a good series for me.”

Pandya spoke about Dravid’s influence.

“After the World Twenty20 (2016) I had a reality check of what are the things I need to improve upon in my game. The Australia tour (with India A) was pretty important for me. I learnt a lot of things about my game, Rahul sir used to talk to me about my game and the mental aspects,” he said.