Hardik Pandya repays skipper MS Dhoni’s faith

Second India-Sri Lanka Twenty20: Hardik Pandya repays skipper MS Dhoni’s faith

Sixty nine runs does not seem an awful lot, but in Twenty20 cricket, it is as comprehensive a victory as they come. Shocked by the upstarts on a seaming pitch in Pune on Tuesday, India’s power-hitters got their revenge in Ranchi in Friday on a track more to their liking. It was a dominating performance – India were hardly troubled for large sections of the match and their 69-run victory is their third highest margin of victory in all Twenty20 Internationals they have played.

The win followed a similar script as the ones in Australia with all of India’s big names coming to the party. Shikhar Dhawan hit a half-century, Rohit Sharma finished seven runs short of one and Ravichandran Ashwin floored Sri Lanka, returning figures of just 3/14 in his four overs. But captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni will probably get more pleasure out of another player’s performance – youngster Hardik Pandya who was sent up the order and repaid the captain’s confidence with a sparkling 12-ball 27.

Hardik Pandey : Dhoni’s double whammy

It was a typical Dhoni double whammy. During the series in Australia, Dhoni had quite categorically stated that he was not in favour of shuffling the batting line-up, even going on record to say that “[The] experiment word is never there with the Indian team.” Yet on his home ground with thousands baying for him to come in and bat, Dhoni made an unusual move – he promoted Hardik Pandya up the order ahead of both Yuvraj Singh and himself, a move which ultimately paid rich dividends.
Pandya has been in the team for a while now but has hardly got a chance to have a meaningful knock. But thanks to Dhoni’s punt today, the 22-year old Baroda boy finally got his chance. India had got off to a good start, but after the dismissals of the two openers, things had slowed down a bit. Sri Lanka seemed to be employing the middle-over squeeze on India and someone needed to hit out.

Hardik Pandey : Shift of momentum

Pandya played the role perfectly. He immediately injected urgency to proceedings, running hard with Suresh Raina at the other end and converting singles into twos. At a critical juncture at the match when it seemed Sri Lanka might be able to tie India down to a 170 plus score, Pandya slammed two massive sixes to shift the momentum. He may have finished with only 27 but his knock was far more important in the grander scheme of the match.

All-rounders are a vital commodity in cricket which may be the reason why the selectors fast-tracked Pandya into the team, with an eye on the upcoming World Twenty20. But whatever doubt there was about his capabilities should be erased now. Pandya adds a vital finishing link to the Indian squad – a multi-faceted all-rounder who can bowl and can finish off games with power hitting. Twenty20 may be chaotic but India may have found a formula to excel amidst the madness.

Second Twenty20: India (196/6 in 20 overs) beat Sri Lanka (127/9 in 20 overs) by 69 runs.

ICC World Twenty20: Youngsters Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah making all the right noises

India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni will be pleased with youngsters Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah for ticking off the boxes in the ongoing Twenty20 series against Sri Lanka.

In the build-up to the upcoming ICC World Twenty20 in March to be held in India, the young duo have been making all the right noises to justify their place in the team. Both Pandya and Bumrah starred for India in the 2nd T20I in Ranchi on Friday to help the side level the series at 1-1.

Pandya who was promoted up the batting order, smashed 27 runs from just 12 deliveries as India posted a mammoth 196/6. Pandya was electric on the field and took a stunning catch to dismiss the in-form Chamara Kapugedera. Pandya's all-round abilities is a big plus for India and he is showing why he can be the answer for India in limited overs cricket in that role.

Pandya has looked to cash in on his experience in the tour of Australia and that has rubbed off on him against the Lankans too. With the Asia Cup coming up followed by the mega World Cup tourney, Pandya looks like to have an important bearing in the shortest format of the game.

Fellow youngster Jasprit Bumrah too has relieved the pressure of Indian death bowling worries as he has excelled in that role against both Australia and Lanka. The youngster was handled the ball in the final overs by Dhoni on Friday and he stepped up by bowling yorkers and full length deliveries that also saw him pick two wickets.

Bumrah fascinated everybody with his skills in the final overs in Australia too where India won the T20I series 3-0. He had picked up six wickets from three matches against the Aussies and created trouble for Aussies with his yorkers. His unusual style of bowling has helped him too.

India have consistently been let down in recent times with the death overs bowling and the way Bumrah has shown his prowess, it has given Dhoni more confidence to try different things.

Their consistency also means that Mohammed Shami may not get a chance in the starting XI as veteran Ashish Nehra too has justified his role as an upfront bowler. It will be tough ask for Shami to replace either Bumrah or Pandya and only depending on circumstances Dhoni may opt for the former.

The skipper has lauded both the youngsters in recent times and if they can continue their hard work consistently then it would help them to cement their places in both the limited overs format of the game.