Hardik Pandya 'Jhappi' to Tilak Varma speaks of mentorship and camaraderie, more powerful image than a 'Pappi'

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Pictures can capture moments that words often struggle to convey. In cricket, those emotions are amplified. While Rohit Sharma lifting Hardik Pandya and giving him a "pappi" after the 2024 World Cup win was a memorable moment of camaraderie, the image of Hardik giving Tilak Varma a "jhappi" tells a different but equally beautiful story.

For a change, "jhappi" is more powerful than "pappi".Because it reflects mentorship, encouragement, and the passing of responsibility to the next generation.

Tilak's match-winning knock in Chennai against England would have been a high-pressure situation, and Hardik's embrace shows genuine appreciation for his efforts. It symbolises the support younger players receive from seniors, making them feel valued in the team.

So what happened to those stories from the Mumbai Indians dressing room after captain Hardik Pandya had expressed a lack of game sense that cost them the match against Delhi Capitals? "Axar bowling to a left-hander (Tilak), the better option could have been to go after him," Hardik had told the broadcasters after the game. "I think it was just a little game awareness that we missed out. At the end of the day, that cost us the game."

The matter was again taken up by Hardik in the dressing room chat and that turned out to be a story of how there was bad blood in the changing room and not everyone in the Mumbai team was in favour of the Baroda all-rounder to be their captain. On Saturday, however, there was nothing to show that Tilak ever had any differences with Hardik. He never had one.

Even when Hardik took no prisoners and walloped a mighty six himself over long off to win a T20 game for India against the West Indies in 2023, Tilak was stranded on 49, the young man didn't carry much grouse against his captain then. That is because he got a clear cut message given to the youngster - don't play for milestone, play for your team.

Tilak later must have realised that even being too much respectful towards the team management won't help his cause after seeing Yuzi Chahal missing out on playing regularly for India. After all, there has to be strong reason as to why Indian coach Gautam Gambhir, who had cast his vote in favour of the Mumbai lobby for Surya Kumar Yadav's candidature as T20 captain, is now backing Hardik once again for the leadership role.