Bhajji praises Hardik Pandya after his Cape Town exploits

The Indians went into the Cape Town Test full of confidence and stars on their side. They also started the match superbly reducing South Africa to 12/3. The drama unfolded thereafter and the Men in Blue have been on the back foot since then. They were not at their best and paid the price in the form of AB de Villiers who hammered the bowlers. The Proteas went on to score 286 when India should not have allowed them to cross 200.

Things went from bad to worse as the Indians lost wickets in heaps. They were reduced to 92 for 7 with all the specialist batsmen back in the hut. Hardik Pandya, the all-rounder who has already proved his worth back home was out in the middle. With the South African bowlers coming hard, nobody would’ve expected Pandya to survive for a longer period. But he proved his doubters wrong and played the innings of his life.

Pandya’s heroics on Day 2 garnered praises from several former cricketers including the veteran off-spinner Harbhajan Singh. He scored 93 golden runs and took 2 wickets later in the day to get his team back into the game. Though the lead was 77, it could have been much worse if not for the allrounder and his 99-run stand with Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

Harbhajan tweeted, “Well done @hardikpandya7 great intent, approach, fighting spirit. This inn will give you lots of confidence..Good to see you r chipping in with ball as well by taking those 2 wickets.. keep going..guys let’s do it tom @BCCI #INDvSA”.

It was Pandya’s first Test match in South Africa and his stunning counter-attack was a treat for the fans. His knock not only saved India from embarrassment but also helped them claw their way back in the game. Pandya must keep his head down and play similar knocks to help his team further in the series.

Here is Bhajji’s tweet:

Well done @hardikpandya7 great intent,approach,fighting spirit.. This inn will give you lots of confidence..Good to see you r chipping in with ball as well by taking those 2 wickets.. keep going..guys let’s do it tom @BCCI #INDvSA

— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) January 6, 2018