IPL 2022: Top 3 Hardik Pandya spells in the IPL
The 40th match of IPL 2022 will see the Gujarat Titans (GT) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) lock horns at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Wednesday. While GT are third in the standings with 12 points, SRH are third with 10.
Abhishek Sharma, Rahul Tripathi, Aiden Markram, and Nicholas Pooran have all been consistent with the bat for Hyderabad, with Umran Malik, T Natarajan and Bhuvaneshwar Kumar shining on the bowling front.
IPL debutants Gujarat Titans, meanwhile, have performed exceptionally well so far. The likes of Mohammed Shami, Lockie Ferguson, Rashid Khan, Shubman Gill and David Miller have all performed, with Hardik Pandya leading from the front.
Hardik has put in decent all-round performances in most games this season. While he is known for his attacking brand of batting, the 28-year-old has also opened the bowling for GT.
The former Mumbai Indians (MI) star has bowled some crucial spells under pressure in his seven-year-long IPL career and is now just four scalps short of joining the 50-wicket club in the league.
On that note, let's revisit his top three bowling performances in the history of the tournament.
#1 3/28 - MI vs RCB in IPL 2018
In the 31st clash of IPL 2018, Hardik bowled a spectacular spell but couldn't get Mumbai over the line against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). MI decided to bowl first and got an early breakthrough before skipper Virat Kohli and Brendon McCullum got going.
With Mumbai failing to break the partnership, McCullum smacked the ball through the cover region and ran for a single. However, he was run out by Hardik Pandya's brilliant direct hit. Panday then came to bowl and dismissed Kohli, Mandeep Singh and Washington Sundar, restricting RCB to 167/7.
In reply, the MI batters got stuck and fell one after the other. Hardik was the only one standing and scored a valiant 50 off 42 deliveries. Due to lack of support, he was out in the penultimate over as Mumbai lost the game by 14 runs.
#2 2/19 - MI vs KKR in IPL 2018
Hardik Pandya enjoyed a great IPL 2018 with both the bat and ball. In the 37th game against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), he put in a sublime all-round effort.
KKR put MI to bat and openers Suryakumar Yadav and Evin Lewis stitched together a 91-run stand. When Evin fell, Suryakumar kept going and his 59 (39) helped MI create a base for a late onslaught.
Hardik took responsibility and delivered an unbeaten 35 off 20 balls with the aid of four fours and a maximum. MI set a target of 182, which proved to be a bit much for the Kolkata batters.
Hardik dismissed Shubman Gill and Nitish Rana before they could unfurl their attacking instincts. Despite Robin Uthappa's half-century and Dinesh Karthik's unbeaten 36, KKR fell short by 13 runs.
Hardil was rightfully adjudged the Player of the Match for his all-round performance.
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#3 3/20 - MI vs CSK in IPL 2019
When the IPL 2019 finalists met for the first time that season, Pandya proved his all-round capabilities once again. Chennai Super Kings (CSK) won the toss and asked their arch-rivals Mumbai Indians to bat first.
While the openers failed to get going, Suryakumar Yadav and Krunal Pandya's partnership steered Mumbai towards a decent total. Hardik Pandya's 25* off eight balls ultimately helped MI reach 170/5.
In reply, Chennai lost three quick wickets and were at 33/3 at one stage. Kedar Jadhav kept pushing with his 58 (54) and MS Dhoni soon walked in to try and change the course of the game.
He dismissed the dangerous keeper-batter and also got rid of Ravindra Jadeja and Deepak Chahar to help MI win the contest by 37 runs.