AHMEDABAD: When one thinks of the Narendra Modi Stadium at Motera, the first thing that comes to mind is the venue’s sheer size: the big outfield, the number of people in the stands, and the noise they make. If you aren’t used to it, the intimidation factor can throw you off.
But there are times when players seem to have a special bond with a ground. Just stepping on it, seems to fill them with confidence… it suits their style and they seem to understand it. Mahela Jayawardene seemed to have such a feel for the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo. For VVS Laxman, Eden Gardens was that ground. For Dilip Vengsarkar, it was Lord’s.
One might say that Hardik Pandya is the guy for Ahmedabad and T20s. In the current Indian squad, he is the highest run-getter (227 runs at a strike-rate of 161) and highest wicket-taker (9 wickets at an economy rate of 8.4) matches played at this venue. It is also where he cemented his reputation as a leader and delivered a champion bowling performance (3/17) against Rajasthan Royals in 2022 to win the IPL for the Gujarat Titans in their debut season.
In 2023, he once again led the Ahmedabad-based team to the final, losing a close match to Chennai Super Kings.
However, Pandya missed the biggest match—the 2023 ODI World Cup final—held at the world’s biggest stadium. An injury in the middle of the campaign ruled him out for the remainder of the tournament.
Host India lost the title clash to Australia but people still talk about what might have happened if Pandya had played that final. India missed his blend of combativeness and street smarts.
Now, destiny has provided the Baroda player another chance to play a World Cup final in front of his home crowd and his son on Sunday and this time, he’ll want to seize the moment and the trophy.
New Zealand is no pushover, but playing a final is as much a test of temperament as skill and while some develop cold feet, players like Pandya thrive.
He is India’s X-factor. On the basis of his batting ability alone he can walk into India’s T20 side, and he has also performed as a specialist pace bowler when asked. The numbers speak for themselves. At the 2026 T20 World Cup he has scored 199 runs at an average of 28.43 with two half-centuries, and claimed eight wickets at an ER of 8.79.
Pandya was brilliant in the semi-final at Wankhede Stadium. After chipping in with a 12-ball 27 cameo, he picked up two important wickets: opener Phil Salt and Sam Curran. On a pitch where every bowler struggled, he was the most economical alongside Jasprit Bumrah, returning figures of 4-0-38-2.
He was a livewire on the field. In the last over, on the first ball when centurion Jacob Bethell tried to take him on in the field while going for the second run, Pandya, at long-on, was onto the ball in a flash and caught the batter short with an accurate, flat one-bounce throw to the wicket-keeper.
Pandya is a captain’s dream because he allows the team management to play around with the combination. In the Asia Cup, when coach Gautam Gambhir and skipper Suryakumar Yadav decided to play an extra spinner, they banked on Pandya to perform the fifth specialist bowler’s role.
Captain Suryakumar Yadav knows Pandya is one of the players he can bank on to deliver when the pressure is on in Sunday’s blockbuster. Yadav only needs to look to the 2024 final for proof. There can’t be a tougher situation than the one India faced during the title clash against South Africa, at Kensington Oval, Barbados.
The moment that won over even his harshest critics was when he dismissed Heinrich Klaasen in the 17th over. Klaasen had almost prised the game out of India’s hands with a belligerent 52 off 27 balls. It was a telling blow to SA. When Hardik and Bumrah came on to bowl, the match looked lost — 30 balls off 30 runs with six wickets in hand.
Later, bowling the last over of the match, Pandya displayed icy nerves to defend 15 runs, ending India’s long wait for an ICC title. The team’s vice-captain took three wickets for 20 runs in his three overs.
Cometh the moment, cometh Pandya. And India would love for him to come to the party once again in front of a packed stadium against the Kiwis. Odds are… he won’t disappoint.
