Hardik Pandya has been in tremendous form ever since making a comeback into the Indian side after the infamous Koffee With Karan episode resulted in his suspension, forcing him to miss the Australia ODI series. Since then, he has come back an improved cricket. He made a mark in all three departments of the game in the latter part of the ODI series against New Zealand and also in the first two T20Is. On Sunday, a lot was expected from the all-rounder in the series-deciding third T20I but it was not Pandya’s day, at least in the first half of the match. And astonishingly, he was not at fault.
Two catches were dropped off Pandya’s bowling and a boundary slipped through – all in the same over. In the eventful 13th over of the New Zealand innings, Khaleel Ahmed dropped a sitter standing at square-leg off Pandya’s bowling. It was the important wicket of Colin Munro who was hitting the Indian bowlers to all parts of the ground. To rub salt into Pandya’s wounds, Munro hit him for a six and a four in the next two balls, the boundary coming because of a misfield by Vijay Shankar. Pandya then replied with a bouncer in the fifth ball, the ball lobbed up in the air but just flew over the short third man fielder’s head for another boundary. The umpire signalled leg byes but Pandya was visibly frustrated with the standard of fielding.
In the next over, Pandya got his revenge. Not as a bowler but as a fielder, giving a perfect demo to Khaleel on how to catch a skier. Munro tried to muscle Kuldeep Yadav for a six, did not get a hold of it and Pandya at long on took a simple catch. The jubilation on his face after holding onto the catch said it all.
Munro was out but not before scoring a playing super 72-run innings off 30 balls.