IND vs SA 2025: 'Minimal risk and maximum result' - Hardik Pandya gets hailed for batting upon international return

Hardik Pandya will return to play internationals after a nearly three-months' gap due to an injury to his left quadriceps during the 2025 Asia Cup. The all-rounder is set to break his injury layover with the upcoming five-match series against South Africa, with the first match taking place in Cuttack on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Parthiv Patel has given a breakdown on how Hardik's batting approach can help India win the series.

Parthiv compared Hardik's batting style to that of Suryakumar Yadav. He highlighted how the all-rounder hits most of his aggressive shots with a straight bat and in front of the wickets, unlike the Indian skipper, who finds runs to the square of the wicket more often.

"He has a completely different gameplan than Suryakumar Yadav. The amount of runs he has scored in front of the wickets is unbelievable. When you talk about Suryakumar Yadav, everything was here (behind the wickets), and then when Hardik Pandya comes in, everything is in front of the wickets. That means it's minimal risk and maximum result," stated Parthiv, as quoted by Star Sports.

The erstwhile wicketkeeper-batter commented on how bowlers have been bound to travel the distance if they miss their spots by even a bit against the likes of the hard-hitting Hardik. 

"Most of the bowlers, in the slog overs, try to bowl those yorkers, and if you miss that length, the margin of error against Hardik Pandya is none, and that's what makes him more dangerous. In world cricket, you don't have so many batters who can hit it down the ground with so much of ease, and Hardik Pandya has that ability," he added.

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Hardik recently represented Baroda in a couple of Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2025 matches. He was the Player of the Match against Punjab in what was a seven-wicket triumph in Hyderabad. He made up for his underwhelming performance with the ball (1/52 in 4 overs) with an unbeaten 42-ball 77 during the run-chase.

His outing with the ball against Gujarat in the subsequent clash was a much better one. Hardik's figures read 1/16 in four overs, which included a maiden as well. He picked up the wicket of opposition skipper Urvil Patel via a caught-and-bowled opportunity.