Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya has revealed how he thought his India career was over after his introduction to international cricket didn’t go according to plan in 2016.

Pandya’s first international appearance came against Australia after he was selected to the Indian T20I side on the back of an impressive IPL 2015 season. Playing the first of the three-T20I series at Adelaide, the then-22-year-old was brought into the attack with Australia going strong at 63-1 after 7 overs, chasing 189.

Pandya started off with three consecutive wides, leaking a total of 19 runs in the over. In his second over after being brought back into the attack by then-captain MS Dhoni, he was sent for a humongous six over long-on by Chris Lynn. It was then that he thought his ‘career was over’.

“I conceded 26 runs from my first 8 balls and frankly thought my career was over”, the Pandya said while in conversation with Harsha Bhogle on Cricbuzz.

“When I was hit for a huge six, almost 105-110m, I thought I was done. I felt it couldn’t get worse than this and thankfully I managed to snare a couple of wickets,” he added.

As it turned out, Pandya would dismiss Lynn and Matthew Wade and finish with 2-37 in three overs as India registered a 37-run victory. He has since become an indispensable part of India’s white-ball unit.