Hardik Pandya is making a habit of striking with the ball in recent times, more so when he’s captaining the side. And he’s accounted for some big wickets to his name.
In the first T20I against the West Indies, he dismissed the dangerous Nicholas Pooran in his later spell with the old ball.
He’s improved significantly as a new ball bowler, too, since last year, making the new ball swing away from the right-hander, something which was on show in the second T20I on Sunday when he snapped the wickets of two destructive top-order West Indies batters in Brandon King and Johnson Charles to give the hosts back-to-back dents early in the first over itself in their chase of 153.
With no Bumrah, Shami, Bhuvneshwar, and Siraj, captain Hardik Pandya took matters into his own hands by taking the new ball. He delivered on it instantly with a first-ball wicket of Brandon King, who played an cover drive to a ball that swung away just a bit at the end. King didn’t keep his shot on the ground and Suryakumar Yadav took a brilliant diving catch at short extra cover.
Three balls later, with a similar delivery Hardik Pandya had Johnson Charles into his account. Like Brandon King, Johnson Charles also flayed at an away swinging delivery outside the off-stump. The ball caught the upper part of the bat and flew straight to Tilak Varma at the point position, so much that Varma didn’t even have to move from his spot.
Hardik Pandya was elated, the Indians were cock-a-hoop.
Watch: Captain Hardik Pandya takes two wickets in an over
Pandya Power 💪#INDvWIAdFreeonFanCode #WIvIND pic.twitter.com/UtS1p5qcpq
— FanCode (@FanCode) August 6, 2023
Earlier, Tilak Varma continued his rise and notched up his maiden T20I fifty, with the help of which India crossed 150.
Teams:
West Indies (Playing XI): Brandon King, Kyle Mayers, Johnson Charles, Nicholas Pooran(w), Rovman Powell(c), Shimron Hetmyer, Romario Shepherd, Jason Holder, Akeal Hosein, Alzarri Joseph, Obed McCoy
India (Playing XI): Ishan Kishan(w), Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya(c), Sanju Samson, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mukesh Kumar, Ravi Bishnoi
