When You Look At Hardik Pandya’s Ability And His Form, Five Balls And Two Sixes Is Not A Big Deal: Sanjay Manjrekar

Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya has remained nearly unstoppable with the bat in the ongoing tour of Australia as he has displayed his heroics on multiple occasions. Hardik Pandya carried his excellent form with the bat from the ODIs to T20I series as India clinched the series in the second game in Sydney. Former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar is amongst the one who could not stop praising him.

Hardik Pandya established his authority in the second T20I with his fabulous power-hitting skill, leaving Australia dazed. The 26-year old helped the men in blue ace the chase of 195 on Sunday with six wickets and two balls to spare by hammering two sixes in the last over off Daniel Sams. Pandya finished 42 not out off 22 balls to bag the man of the match award as India bounced back from the ODI series defeat to take a lead of 2-0 in the three-match series.

The 26-year old was India’s highest run-getter in the ODI series, smashing 210 runs in three innings. Pandya had two half-centuries to his name, albeit only one of them coming in a winning cause. By scoring 90 and 92 runs in the first and third ODI respectively, he had his top two ODI scores. The score of unbeaten 92 was indeed significant as it let the visitors bag a consolation win and helped register a stand of 150 with Ravindra Jadeja.

That’s when you started believing Hardik Pandya could do it: Sanjay Manjrekar

Sanjay Manjrekar remembered Steve Smith declaring that he found his hands and responded to it by saying that Hardik Pandya found his bat. The 55-year old remembered when Hardik had to hit two sixes in five balls in the second T20I and reckons that given his ability and form, it is a cakewalk.

“If Steve Smith found his hands in this series then Hardik Pandya found his bat. When you break it down into little specifics. Last over, there was this situation where Hardik Pandya had five balls to face and had to hit two sixes. Now when you look at Hardik Pandya’s ability and his form, it’s not a big deal. Five balls, two sixes. That’s when you started believing he could do it,” Manjrekar said in the post-match show on Sunday.

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