Watch: "I get dropped because of my attitude" — Hardik Pandya's shocking statement stuns fans

The premier all-rounder of the Indian side, Hardik Pandya, has dropped a shocking statement about how he used to get dropped not because of his runs but due to his attitude during his early days when he was growing up. Pandya has a superb self-belief in his skills, which he has channelled in his performance.  

Pandya has overall smashed 532 runs in 18 innings of the Test format for his four fifties and one century. In the ODIs, he has collected 1904 runs in 68 innings at an average of 32.82 besides picking up 91 wickets. In the T20Is, he has smashed 2288 runs in 109 innings and bagged 114 wickets at an economy rate of 8.34.

What exactly did Hardik Pandya say about being dropped over his attitude?

During a recent interaction, Hardik revealed that he always wanted to be fancy and used to joke around with people. He also addressed that he always had been an outside-the-box player.

Watch Hardik Pandya's interaction here- 

“From here I have come and the journey that I have followed, I had to stand out. I had different personalities from the start. So, I had so many problems. While growing up, I liked to be fancy. I was bubbly and loved to joke around with people. I was a bit outside-the-box cricketer,” Hardik said in the interview. 

The Gujarat-born claimed that when he was 16, he got dropped from the team even after scoring 800 runs while the second best of the competition got 200 to 300 runs. 

“This looks good now, but at that time, I always got dropped not because of my runs, but because of my attitude, or very honestly, I didn't even know what attitude was, so someone said that you. When I was 16, I got dropped from a team after scoring 800 Runs & the second best is 200-300 runs.” The Mumbai Indians (MI) captain informed.

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“I got dropped and it was said that you know I have attitude problem now of you ask me I had no idea what was that because that after doing well. I realized that if I had to get selected, I would have to do it on my own. And that pushed me to get confidence. I have always maintained my confidence line never crossed over the confidence line.” He added.

The veteran noted that he had gained confidence over the years with his experience. But he also revealed how he had the confidence in him because he had to fight it out from the early days.

“11 people are against you. You have just one ball to make a mistake. So, because of these factors, I will have to get the best of my mindset. My confidence has come over the years because of my experience, but I had that from the very first day. I always had to fight my battles and come out of that.” Hardik said in the interview.

When will Hardik Pandya return to cricket for India?

Hardik didn’t enjoy a great IPL 2026 campaign for the Mumbai Indians when he could manage only 206 runs in 10 innings at an average of 22.88 and a strike rate of 138.25 with the best score of 40 runs. Even with the ball, he could pick up only four wickets in nine innings at an economy rate of 11.42.

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Hardik didn’t feature in the home series against Afghanistan and also missed out on the white-ball series against England due to the injury. He has been trying his best to gain full fitness at the BCCI Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru.

The all-rounder is eyeing a return to the Indian side through the home ODI and T20I series against West Indies in October.