“Beta, haldi ka doodh peena” – When Hardik got a call from Kapil Dev before his surgery

Hardik Pandya, who is all set to represent India in the ICC T20 World Cup, shared an interesting episode involving great Kapil Dev. Hardik was given his maiden One Day International (ODI) cap by the former India skipper.

He got a call from Kapil Dev when he was nursing a back injury. The Mumbai-Indian player had to undergo surgery to fix the issue. Recalling the tough time, Pandya revealed that he received a call from Kapil before his back surgery in London.

“It was special to receive that cap because Kapil Dev gave it to me and told me, ‘You do better than what I have done. You will succeed. Keep working hard’,” Pandya told The Cricket Monthly in an interview. “Before my back surgery, it was very sweet of him to call and say: “Beta, please aap haldi ka doodh peena. Sab theekh ho jayega [Son, drink turmeric milk and everything will be all right]. Take care,” Pandya added.

Pandya, who has represented India across formats, has failed to get going after his surgery. He hasn’t played Test cricket since then, while he continues to play as a pure batter in the shorter formats of the game.