Hardik Pandya. (Source – Twitter/X)
India won the first T20I against Bangladesh by seven wickets. Hardik Pandya remained unbeaten on 39 off 16 balls and finished the game for the Indian team. While doing so, he surpassed the record of Virat Kohli of finishing most T20I matches with six, Kohli has done this four times and Pandya’s latest antic saw him committing the good for the fifth time.
Pandya also smashed five boundaries and two maximums in his unbeaten knock as India reached the 128-run target in just 11.5 overs. Hardik was clinical with the ball too. The all-rounder bowled four overs and conceded just 26 runs while claiming the wicket of Shoriful Islam. While he bowled with an economy rate of 6.50, he batted at a strike rate of 243.75.
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While Hardik’s no-look ramp shot is going viral all over social media, he surpassed another milestone with the ball. His sole wicket in the Gwalior T20I took him over Arshdeep Singh to become the fourth-highest wicket-taker of India in T20Is. While Arshdeep has picked 86 wickets, Hardik has 87 scalps to his name.
You learn something new every new game: Suryakumar Yadav
Speaking of the game, on the back of three-fers from Arshdeep and Varun Chakravarthy, India restricted Bangladesh to just 127 runs. Sanju Samson contributed 29 off 19 as Abhishek Sharma departed after a quick 16 off seven balls. Suryakumar Yadav displayed his usual self, scoring 29 off 14 and Hardik finished the job as India led the series by 1-0.
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“We just tried to back our skills and what we decided in our team meetings, it worked out. The way the guys showed character playing on a new ground and the way we batted, it was great. It’s a good headache to have when you are on the field on whom to bowl. Every time you have an extra option, it’s a good thing. You learn something new with every new game. There are always a few areas to improve on, we will sit down and talk about it in the next game,” said Suryakumar after the game.