Suryakumar Yadav led India cruised to a comfortable 7-wicket victory over Bangladesh in the first T20I in Gwalior on Sunday. While Indian bowlers Varun Chakravarthy, Mayank Yadav and Arshdeep Singh were the main architects of the victory, all-rounder Hardik Pandya also showed his class with both bat and ball in the match.
Hardik took 1 wicket for 26 runs in his 4 overs, but it was his batting that really earned him plaudits. The 30-year-old scored a 16-ball 39 at a strike rate of 243.75 with 5 boundaries and 2 sixes. Hardik also finished the innings with a six as the entire team took to the field to celebrate their first win of the series.
But when captain Suryakumar Yadav approached Pandya to congratulate him on an incredible innings, Pandya held Surya’s face in his hands before embracing his skipper for a warm hug. The moment was captured on camera and shared by the BCCI on their official X handle.
Notably, Hardik Pandya captained the Indian T20 side in Rohit Sharma’s absence after the T20 World Cup 2022. He was made Rohit’s deputy in the 20-over World Cup this year, but after Rohit’s retirement, Pandya was not considered for the captaincy and instead Surya was appointed as the captain of a new age Indian team.
‘We backed our skills’: Surya on victory over Bangladesh
Speaking after the match, Surya said, “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 every new game. There are always a few areas to improve on, we will sit down and talk about it in the next game,”
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