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ToggleHardik Pandya has hit the ground running after finally returning to action. The India allrounder has not played for the country since September. The 26-year old underwent a successful surgery in October last year to treat an acute lower-back injury. The back injury was bothering him since the 2018 Asia Cup.
In December, he was named in the India A squad for the one-day games in New Zealand. However, he was later pulled out of the team as he was not match ready. He finally returned to action through the just-concluded DY Patil T20 Tournament and took the tournament by storm.
On Friday, he played a whirlwind knock of 158 while representing Reliance 1 against BPCL in the semifinal of the tournament. Reliance 1 were in trouble early on after losing their openers Anmolpreet Singh and Shikhar Dhawan for 4 and 3 respectively.
However, Hardik Pandya’s stunning knock helped them pile up a mammoth total of 238 for 4 in the allotted 20 overs. He was unbeaten on 158 off just 55 balls. He reached his century off just 39 balls. Hardik Pandya’s whirlwind knock was studded with 6 fours and a staggering 20 sixes.
Earlier this week, he had scored a 37-ball century in the ongoing tournament before following it up 5 for 26 in his fours overs in the same match against the CAG Team.
Fans invade pitch:
As Hardik Pandya was taking the bowlers to the cleaners in the DY Patil T20 Tournament, thousands of fans attended the final between Reliance 1 and Indian Oil on Friday evening. Hardik Pandya’s team Reliance 1 lost the match by 11 runs but the fans did not care about that. They swarmed inside the stadium and were seen shouting the allrounder’s name.
Here is a clip of that:
What crowds post the DY Patil t20 Cup! All rooting for just one man @hardikpandya7 #cricket pic.twitter.com/SCMWEJNmxd
— Chandresh Narayanan (@chand2579) March 6, 2020