Don't need to prove anything: Hardik Pandya responds to Michael Vaughan's criticism of Team India

India's stand-in skipper Hardik Pandya said the team doesn't need to prove anything to anyone while responding to Michael Vaughan's criticism of the Men in Blue. The former England captain labelled India as the most underperforming team in white-ball cricket after their disappointing loss against England in the semi-final of the recently-concluded T20 World Cup 2022.

India were the table-toppers in Group 2 in the Super 12 stage being the only team to have won four out of their five matches but failed to cross the final hurdle in the semi-finals. Rohit Sharma & Co. suffered a crushing 10-wicket defeat in the semi-final against England where they failed to defend a total of 178 runs.

In his column for The Telegraph, Vaughan criticised India's approach in white-ball cricket and said the talent their performances on the pitch don't justify the kind of talent they have at their disposal. The former England captain urged India to take inspiration from England's white-ball template while calling them the biggest underperformers.

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"India are the most underperforming white-ball team in history. I am just staggered by how they play T20 cricket for the talent they have. They have the players, but just do not have the right process in place. They have to go for it. Why do they give the opposition bowlers the first five overs to bed in," Vaughan wrote in his column for The Telegraph.

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Hardik was recently asked about Vaughan's comments during the pre-match press conference ahead of the start of the T20I series between India and New Zealand. The stand-in skipper said the team is aware that there is room for improvement but they don't need to prove anything to anyone.

"Obviously when you don't do well, people will have their opinion, which we respect. I understand people have different points of view. Being at the international level, I don't think we need to prove anything to anyone. It's a sport, you keep trying to get better and eventually when the result is supposed to happen it will happen. There are things we need to work on, going forward we will rectify and work on them," Hardik said reacting to Vaughan's comments.

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Hardik, who led his team Gujarat Titans to their maiden title in their debut campaign in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 earlier this year, has been touted by many as the future captain of India in T20Is. Hardikled India for the first time on their tour of Ireland earlier this year and will be leading the team against New Zealand in the upcoming T20I series.

The first T20I between the two teams will be played in Wellington on Friday and India will be hoping to get off to a winning start while brushing aside their disappointing campaign in the T20 World Cup 2022.