"Any other player would have left cricket"- Pawan Sehrawat sheds light on how Hardik Pandya's comeback after ban motivates him
Tamil Thalaivas star Pawan Sehrawat recently spoke about how cricketer Hardik Pandya's comeback motivates him a lot. Pawan felt that any other player would have quit the sport had he received a ban like Hardik.
In an exclusive chat with Sportskeeda ahead of Pro Kabaddi 2022, the league's most expensive player Pawan Sehrawat explained how he motivates himself in life and gains inspiration from the cricketers.
Describing the way Hardik Pandya made a comeback from being banned for his controversial comments on a talk show in 2018/19 and suffering a severe injury to lifting the IPL trophy as Gujarat Titans captain this year, Pawan said:
"I saw Hardik Pandya's comeback recently, and it motivated a lot. Despite being injured severely, he came back and led the Gujarat Titans to IPL trophy, performed so well against Pakistan recently."
Pawan praised Hardik Pandya's mental strength and added that any other player would have retired from cricket in his situation. He continued:
"I try to look at things positively and try to gain motivation from it. If there was another player, he would have left the game. Hardik was even banned once, but in spite of all that, he came back and helped Mumbai Indians become champions.
"After that, he got injured, came back and led Gujarat Titans to championship. Now, he has proved that he deserves to be a part of India's first-choice playing XI."
Pawan Sehrawat had almost quit kabaddi once
While Pawan spoke about Hardik Pandya's inspirational journey, his own rise to the top has been a motivational one. After failing to make an impact in his first few Pro Kabaddi seasons, Pawan made up his mind to retire from the sport.
However, things changed when Bengaluru Bulls coach Randhir Singh Sehrawat signed him before season six and helped him realize his full potential. Pawan guided Bengaluru to their first championship that year and became the number one raider of the tournament.
In the last three seasons, Pawan has topped the raiders' leaderboard. Courtesy of his splendid showing, the Hi-Flier earned a record ₹2.26 crore contract from the Tamil Thalaivas this year.
The Thalaivas will start their PKL 2022 campaign on October 8 against the Gujarat Giants. It will be exciting to see how Pawan Sehrawat performs for his new franchise.