IPL 2018: Twitter pounces on Hardik Pandya after his lacklustre knock

Hardik Pandya never looked settled during his 19-ball vigil on the pitch.

By Sabyasachi Chowdhury

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Krunal Pandya & Hardik Pandya
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Krunal Pandya & Hardik Pandya. (Photo Source: Twitter)

Hardik Pandya is regarded as one of the brightest prospects of Indian cricket and rightly so, bearing in mind his all-round abilities. He was retained by the Mumbai Indians (MI) in the retention ceremony and was expected to play a major role for the team. He has been phenomenal for the team and expectations were high from the Baroda cricketer.

The cricketer hasn’t had an auspicious time thus far in this edition’s Indian Premier League (IPL). However, he had the chance to make amends in Mumbai’s contest against the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). When the Sunrisers batted, Hardik churned out an impressive spell and picked up the prized scalps of Kane Williamson and Manish Pandey.

During Mumbai’s run-chase, Sunrisers dictated terms to Rohit Sharma’s men as the hosts found them in absolute shambles. The home team required 45 runs off 41 balls when Hardik Pandya took charge. Prior to that, Krunal Pandya and Kieron Pollard were dismissed in quick succession, which meant that Hardik had a chunk of the responsibility to guide Mumbai to victory.

The bizarre knock by Hardik Pandya

He had Suryakumar Yadav at the other end, who looked calm and collected during his knock. However, he was dismissed in the next over by Basil Thampi, which meant that the younger Pandya was the lone man standing for the Indians. He curbed his natural instincts and played out a maiden over in the 17th over by Rashid Khan, who eventually bagged the Player of the Match award.

Meanwhile, from a manageable position, the required rate leapfrogged by an alarming extent. In the 18th over by Basil Thampi, Pandya flung his willow with all his might, but Kaul kept beating his bat. In the end, an ugly swat by the right-handed batsman traced into the hands of Thampi, who was patrolling the third man region.

Pandya’s painstaking vigil of three runs off 19 balls finally came to an end following which Mumbai were humiliated by 31 runs. Following the horrendous knock, Twitter wasn’t ready to space the Indian all-rounder and subsequently bashed him left, right and centre.

Here are the reactions from fans

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