Picture Credit: Twitter
Hardik Pandya is showing it to the world that he has a lot to offer yet and he is far away from being written off. Being given the responsibility to lead an IPL franchise. Pandya has led from the front on every occasion. He is in the race of highest-run getters this season and has also taken wickets. His never drop your shoulders attitude is reaping rewards for him.
Pandya is letting his bat do the talking. But IPL is not an easy tournament where one gets a spoonful of opportunities. Big players have to fight their way out and sometimes young guns are the ones to surprise them. Hardik Pandya has formed a great match-up with SRH pacer Umran Malik.
He has now been twice welcomed with a sharp bouncer and has got hit twice in two meetings with Umran Malik. But the champion cricketer has responded with the same fierceness. The same happened in Gujarat's match against Hyderabad on Wednesday.
After Pandya walked out to bat at No.3 for GT, he was welcomed to the crease with a steeply rising delivery that hit him on the shoulder. Umran Malik surprised the batter with his pace and bounce. However, Pandya was ready with his reply on the next ball. The GT skipper played a glorious punch to accumulate four runs.
Watch the sequence of events here:
Malik gets the last laugh
Although Pandya showed some authority with his fabulous shot, Umran Malik had the last laugh as he dismissed the GT skipper. Malik got Pandya with a brilliant bouncer. The pacer returned for his second over to get rid of Pandya. On the second ball of the 10th over. Malik bowled a rising delivery in the outside-off-stump channel. Pandya tried to take on the ball with a pull shot but he could not time it and the ball went up in the air to be pouched comfortably by Marco Jansen.