Former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan has showered praise on Hardik Pandya after India registered a comprehensive 101-run win against South Africa at the Barabati Cricket Stadium, Cuttack on Tuesday.
Pandya, who was returning after recovering from a quadriceps injury, was able to hit the ground running and scored a match-winning knock of 59 runs off just 28 balls at a blistering strike rate of 210.71.
This was Pandya’s sixth fifty in T20Is and it helped India in posting a par score of 175 runs on a challenging wicket. The right-hander smashed six fours and four maximums and also completed 100 sixes in his T20I career, becoming the fourth Indian batter to reach the milestone.
Pathan said it didn’t look like Pandya was returning from an injury as he was able to bat at the top of his game.
“The way Hardik Pandya batted, it didn’t feel like he was coming back from injury. He looked fully in form. He looked in control for 75 to 90% and played big shots against spinners straightaway. Pandya’s strength is he goes for the big shots if the length is full. He also batted with control against pace bowling that clocked beyond 150 and his innings was the difference,” Pathan said on his YouTube Channel.
Pandya was also able to get a big wicket of David Miller and returned with figures of 1-16 in two overs. South Africa was bowled out for 74 runs to suffer a huge loss.
On the other hand, Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav was dismissed after scoring only 12 runs off 11 balls. Pathan said SKY is surely out of runs but not out of form.
“The way three wickets fell initially, Suryakumar Yadav played the ball on the off-stump to the leg side. He must give himself time to play straight and he is not entirely out of form. Surya is surely out of runs. His strength is leg side but must look to play straight and balls to the off-stump must go straight. Tilak Varma often converts his starts to bigger scores but his partnership with Axar Patel stabilised India’s innings after those three early wickets,” Pathan said.
The second T20I between India and South Africa will be played at Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium, Mullanpur, Chandigarh, on Thursday.
