India allrounder Hardik Pandya has been drawing praises for his superb innings in the series opening first T20I against Australia on Tuesday. Pandya smashed an unbeaten 71 off 30 against the world champions to propel India to a massive 208/6 in Mohali.
The score is Pandya’s best of his international career so far and was studded with seven fours and five sixes. He has been in terrific touch since IPL 2022 where he performed with the ball and the bat to guide debutants Gujarat Titans to title win – a franchise he also captained.
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Thanks to his IPL exploits, he led India during the two-match T20I series against Ireland which the tourists won 2-0. He also played an eye-catching innings against Pakistan during the group stage of Asia Cup 2022, starring in a last-over win after earlier recording figures of 3/25.
However, Pandya then registered a duck and 17 in his next two innings during the Super Four stage of the competition as India failed to make it to the final.
Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar said it appeared that the 28-year-old may have lost his mojo but he was roared back to form in quick time.
“… you know we thought in the Asia cup, that maybe he’s lost his mojo a little bit and whether if he’s quickly going to come in form but that was sort of bump in the kind of batting form that we’ve seen with Hardik Pandya," Manjrekar said on Sports18‘s daily sports news show ‘Sports Over The Top‘.
Manjrekar also pointed out that Pandya’s blistering fifty came against a quality Australian attack comprising Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Adam Zampa.
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“When we talk about form it’s not about 40s, 50s or 60s. The kind of shorts and the impact he’s making with the bat and again we’re back to the Hardik Pandya who’s playing on a different planet currently. Class batting against some quality bowling. I think that is very important to note as well," he said.
He continued, “And because India batted first, it wasn’t as easy as it was in the second half of the match. So, hats off to Hardik."
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