Hardik Pandya smashes second-fastest fifty by an Indian in T20Is, Yuvraj Singh tops all-time list

Hardik Pandya entered the record books with a 16-ball fifty in the last T20I match against South Africa at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Friday night. The crowd roared, head coach Gautam Gambhir stood up and honestly, you could feel the roar of the stadium as India ran. With this strike, Hardik now has the second fastest T20I fifty by an Indian. Only Yuvraj Singh’s legendary 12-ball fifty against England in 2007 stands in his way. This is a serious company.

Hardik’s entry was not very clever. Suryakumar Yadav came in after going out and immediately made his intentions clear. First ball? He blew it in the middle of six hours; He was so hard that he hit a cameraman and stopped the game for a while while the physiotherapist checked. The crowd had no time to catch their breath before the attack continued.

Things reached another level in the 14th round. George Linde ran but Hardik had just pounced; He smashed back-to-back sixes, including his trademark no-look shot from mid-wicket and a straight pull for four. He went from 30 to 50 in the blink of an eye and completed his half-century with another massive six from Bosch in the 17th over. Pandya was on fire.

Hardik Pandya at home

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But he wasn’t doing this alone. At the other end, Tilak Varma kept things going by scoring a fifty off 30 balls. Together, they put on a show that took India’s run rate sky high, especially in the finals. South Africa just couldn’t find the opportunity.

Earlier, Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson had set things up with a quick 54 in the powerplay. But it was Hardik’s final touch that turned a good score into a mountain. That’s exactly what the selectors, who will meet in Mumbai tomorrow to name the World Cup squad, wanted to see.

This was Hardik making a statement beyond just the run. He answered questions about his fitness and it is clear that he is the man India want to finish matches with as they head to the T20 World Cup in February.

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