Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya is rarely a humble man when he is on the field. On his day, he decimates the opposition whether it is with the bat, ball or in the fielding department. On October 6 at New Madhavrao Scindia Cricket Stadium, Gwalior, in the first T20I against Bangladesh he was at his best in all departments of the game. As India were storming towards the target, Pandya went after Bangladesh’s pace-bowling spearhead Taskin Ahmed.
In the 12th over of the run chase, Hardik was not troubled by the back of the length delivery. He waited for it and played an upper cut over the wicketkeeper Litton Das' head for a boundary. He did not look at where the ball was going, continued to chew the gum and smiled at Taskin. The bowler walked back to his run-up and smiled as well.
Hardik overtakes Kohli
On the next ball, Hardik got a full toss. He flashed his bat and lost the grip. The bat went to the leg side whereas Hardik managed to get a boundary towards backward point. On the next ball, he finished the run chase with a six over cow corner. This is the fifth time, he has finished a T20I with a six. He overtook former India T20I batter Virat Kohli who achieved the feat four times.
He remained unbeaten for 39 off just 16 balls including five fours and a couple of sixes. His strike rate was 243.75. He shared an unbeaten 52-run partnership for the fourth wicket with debutant Nitish Reddy who scored 16 runs from 15 balls. Chasing a target of 128 India won by seven wickets with 49 balls to spare.
Hardik’s all-round performance
Earlier, captain Suryakumar Yadav won the toss and opted to bat first. Hardik was economical with the ball. He was agile in the field taking the catches of Towhid Hridoy and Rishad Hossain. In the 18th over, he knocked over tailender Shoriful Islam. He opened the bowling despite express pacer Mayank Yadav making his debut. The 30-year-old conceded 26 runs from his quota of four overs.
