India vs South Africa: Hardik Pandya trilling comeback knock leaves Indian cricket fans ecstatic 

Hardik Pandya resumed his normal power-hitting services for Team India; leaving Indian cricket fans on Twitter ecstatic.

Hardik Pandya made a fiery comeback for Team India (Courtesy: BCCI/Twitter)
By Samrat Chakraborty | Jun 9, 2022 | 3 Min Read follow icon Follow Us

Premier India all-rounder Hardik Pandya greeted his fans with a 12-ball unbeaten 31 runs cameo on his comeback for the national team in the first of five-match T20I series against South Africa at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on Thursday. Pandya, the IPL 2022 winning captain for Gujarat Titans, was carrying his fine run from the lucrative tournament which saw him scoring 487 runs besides picking up eight wickets. 

READ MORE: Umran Malik misses debut for India in 1st T20I to leave Netizens infuriated 

India vs South Africa: Hardik Pandya shows his class

Pandya, who was playing his first match for Team India after 2021, took the South African bowlers to the cleaners from the word go. He played some fearless cricket and smashed two boundaries along with three hits over the top while batting at a staggering strike rate of 258.33 in his brilliant knock as a finisher. 

Team India head coach Rahul Dravid had said that whether Pandya can be a part of the leadership group or not; will rely on his consistency throughout the calendar year. He, however, mentioned that the Baroda cricketer will add a lot of depth to the team line-up. “I just met Hardik couple of hours ago. I think his leadership was impressive right through the IPL, he performed well. But I mean you don’t need to be designated a leader to be part of any leadership group, Yeah, in terms of what happens ahead, whether someone leads the team or not, it depends on many factors. The selectors will take the decision based on what they see and what happens in the future, availability of players. It is great we have got a lot of Indian captains doing well in the IPL,” Dravid said in the press conference.

“Hardik was one of them, Rahul did very well for LSG, Sanju captained RR. Shreyas did it at KKR as well. It helps people grow and develop as players. It really helps you grow as a person also, having to make decisions. It is great from our perspective to see that. At this point of time, it is really about from our perspective is that he has started bowling again. You know what that does to us, what depth it brings to the side. So for us really, it would be about ensuring we get the best out of him as a cricketer, in terms of his bowling, in terms of his batting,” Dravid added.





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