Picture Credit: BCCI/IPL
Sunrisers Hyderabad have had a horrific start to their IPL 2021 campaign so far with only one win in six matches so far. As they got set to play another crucial encounter against high-flying Chennai Super Kings, David Warner was expected to make a few changes to the SRH side. To some people's surprise and others' delight, Indian batsman Manish Pandey made a comeback into the playing XI after being dropped for the last few matches.
Why was Pandey dropped?
The stylish right-handed batsman was notably dropped from SRH side because of his strike-rate issues in the first few matches. His knock against RCB, where he made 38 runs off 39 deliveries, really frustrated the fans and after another poor outing against MI, he was surprisingly left out of the playing XI for the match against Punjab. While SRH won that match, the services of an experienced batsman like Pandey was missed in the clash against Delhi where Williamson was the sole warrior. Hence, the Orange Army took another big call and recalled the veteran back into the side.
Pandey silences his critics on comeback
The SRH batsman came in to bat early in the innings with the early fall of wicket of Jonny Bairstow. However, it was a different Manish Pandey who turned up in New Delhi on Wednesday. With David Warner struggling at the other end, the 31-year-old was at his absolute best as he went on to smash a gritty half-century on his 150th IPL match.
Notably, Pandey had also been excluded from the annual BCCI contract released recently to add salt to the wound. Considering the last few days, the fans were extremely happy to see such a talented cricketer bounce back in style. Manish Pandey's crucial knock of 61 runs off 46 deliveries set up a perfect platform for Williamson and Jadhav to take the total of SRH to 171/3 in 20 overs. Twitterati couldn't stop praising the right-handed batsman as they hailed him for his heroic comeback.
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