Expectations were sky high from Hardik Pandya when he arrived in South Africa. Prior to the departure to South Africa, the all-rounder had cemented his spot in the team across formats with some consistent performance. India is will face Proteas in the fifth ODI on Tuesday (February 13).
Pandya’s career took a turn for the better from the Champions Trophy. In the final which India lost, Pandya was the sole bright spot, as he slammed 76 runs off 43 balls in a heavy 180-run defeat.
His impressive performances saw him getting a place in the Test team for the Sri Lanka series. The Baroda star went on to justify the decision by scoring a quick-fire fifty on his debut. In the third match, he bagged his maiden Man of the Match award in Tests after scoring 108 off 96 balls.
He further enhanced his reputation with his brilliant performance in the five-match ODI series against Australia. He scored 222 runs and took 6 wickets to win his first Man of the Series award.
Not surprisingly, expectations were high from Pandya for the South Africa tour. The expectations only soared after he slammed 93 in the first Test. However, things only went downhill from thereon.
In the next five innings, he managed to score only 26 runs. His performance with the ball was equally unimpressive as he managed to pick up just 3 wickets. His poor form continued in the ongoing ODI series too. And it seems the fans finally have had enough after the all-rounder failed to deliver in the fourth ODI.
Pandya failed to help the team finish strongly after Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli set the tone for a good score with a mammoth 158-run stand. Pandya scored only 9 runs and picked up just one wicket as India lost the game by 5 wickets (DLS method).
The fans took to Twitter to express their displeasure over the allrounder’s performance. The disgruntled fans also suggested that the team should drop Pandya for the upcoming fifth ODI.
Here are some reactions:
@hardikpandya7 has been disappointed on this SA tour barring the 1st test, want to see @akshar2026 taking his place in next odi, @im_manishpandey should come in for iyer, #INDvSA @BCCI
— Mohsin Khan (@khanmak666) February 12, 2018
Jacques Kallis was batting all-rounder.
Kapil Dev was bowling all-rounder.Hardik Pandya is fielding all-rounder.#INDvSA
— Sunil The Cricketer (@1sInto2s) February 4, 2018
Hardik Pandya is a little over-rated? Or is he Shahid Afridi in the making?
— Subramoney.com (@pvsubramanyam) February 7, 2018
*After the series*
Ravi Shastri : time for series review
Virat Kohli : 4 century, 2 half century
Ravi Shastri : aur Pandya tera?
Pandya : brown hair, blue hair, blonde hair#SAvIND #INDvSA #IndvsSA #SAvsIND #ViratKohli #RohitSharma #shikhardhawan #HardikPandya #TeamIndia
— Ritika Sharma ?? (@RS9777) February 10, 2018
Hardik pandya in this series is useless as 'p' in pneumonia. #INDvSA #PinkODI #HardikPandya
— Aditi. (@Sassy_Soul_) February 10, 2018
Hardik u r on the way of Vinod Kambli. Pls concentrate on game rather than hair color.
I am sorry to write but feel so sad after seeing ur performance.— Chetan Doshi (@tinnu1970) February 11, 2018
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