‘This is the Hardik Pandya India needs’: Twitter goes gaga as Hardik Pandya demolish Rajasthan to continue Gujarat’s juggernaut

Rajasthan faced Gujarat in the 24^th match of the Indian T20 League 2022 at the DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai. The pitch has been favoring batters throughout the tournament and this match was no exception. Sanju Samson won the toss and decided that his team will field first. Gujarat’s start was rocky as they lost 2 wickets for 15 runs within the third over of the innings. Shubman Gill and Hardik Pandya tried to stabilize the Gujarat innings, but Gill was dismissed in the 7^th over by Riyan Parag for 13 off 14 deliveries. The Gujarat batting order was under pressure at this stage being reduced to 53 for 3 within the 7^th over. The young batter Abhinav Manohar got together with the skipper Hardik Pandya and staged a brilliant turnaround from there. The duo stitched a partnership of 86 runs and laid the foundation for a powerful finish. Manohar was dismissed by Yuzvendra Chahal for 43 off 28 deliveries in the 16^th over.

David Miller walked out in the middle with the task of giving Rajasthan a strong finish along with the skipper Hardik Pandya. The South African left-hander played a swashbuckling cameo of 31 runs off 14 deliveries hitting five fours and one six during his stay. Hardik Pandya played a captain’s knock scoring 87 runs off 52 deliveries. He hit eight fours and 4 sixes in his innings and looked in supreme touch. Gujarat put up a total of 192 runs from their 20 overs. Yuzvendra Chahal was the pick of the bowlers for Rajasthan picking up a wicket from his four overs conceding 32 runs.

Rajasthan made a quick start to their chase scoring 28 runs off the first two overs. But Devdutt Padikkal was dismissed on the last ball of the second over for a golden duck. Buttler looked in fine touch as he continued attacking the bowlers from one end, while Rajasthan lost their second wicket in the form of Ashwin (8 off 8) in the 6^th over. Buttler was dismissed in the same over as Lockie Ferguson dislodged his stumps. He scored 54 off 24 deliveries hitting eight fours and three sixes and gave the team good momentum. Sanju Samson was the victim of a brilliant run out by Hardik Pandya soon and Rajasthan was 4 down for 74 runs in the 8^th over. Rajasthan was not able to build partnerships and kept losing wickets.

Shimron Hetmyer was looking dangerous as he was beginning to take on the bowlers. But before he could impact the game in a big way, Mohammed Shami dismissed him in the 13th over for 29 runs off 17 deliveries. Rajasthan was under pressure at this stage with the score reading 116 for 6. As the 15th over of the match came to a conclusion Rajasthan was 130 for 6 requiring 63 runs off 30 deliveries. Riyan Parag and James Neesham was at the crease and the equation looked tough with just 4 wickets in hand. But Rajasthan batting order succumbed under the pressure. Hardik Pandya dismissed James Neesham in the 18th over sealing the deal for Gujarat. Rajasthan did not have much more left in their batting after that. Gujarat ultimately restricted Rajasthan at  155 from 20 overs and won the match by 37 runs. Gujarat have now won 4 out of their 5 matches, while Rajasthan faced their second defeat of the campaign.

Third best South African after Faf and Albie morkel to play Ipl #GTvsRR pic.twitter.com/xPLoY5gobj

— Dubephobic (@innocent2904) April 14, 2022

https://twitter.com/vikrantgupta73/status/1514627106247905285?s=20&t=hEyTpgQEFYjOtSvSTkqYlQ

https://twitter.com/Michelle_irdc/status/1514643177453461506?s=20&t=hEyTpgQEFYjOtSvSTkqYlQ

Potency
Intensity
Steam running in!
Sucha real eager beaver he is! Just love the energy of this man to put up his hand in every department to lead his side! #HardikPandya #IPL2022 #GTvsRR #Pandya #IPL @gujarat_titans pic.twitter.com/kdba4mfONs

— Balaji K (@balajik_97) April 14, 2022

https://twitter.com/gauravkapur/status/1514630593866534912?s=20&t=hEyTpgQEFYjOtSvSTkqYlQ

https://twitter.com/omniverse_bot/status/1514658656964550659?s=20&t=hEyTpgQEFYjOtSvSTkqYlQ

This is a completely failure of captaincy @IamSanjuSamson @ashwinravi99 in at 3 like a blunder when target is more then 9.5+ per over
On other side best inning from captain @hardikpandya7 #GTvsRR #RRvGT #SanjuSamson #HardikPandya #Ashwin pic.twitter.com/zsBsrwjpFV

— Zaan Baloch (@Zaan_Baloch) April 14, 2022

https://twitter.com/BillaAkarsh/status/1514662270932254720?s=20&t=hEyTpgQEFYjOtSvSTkqYlQ

It was Hardik vs RR today. Period.

Too good all round show from the skipper. He is leaving no stones unturned for making his come back to national side. #GTvsRR

— Saran R S (@CricaholicJammy) April 14, 2022

https://twitter.com/visheshtaa_j/status/1514663094068387854?s=20&t=hEyTpgQEFYjOtSvSTkqYlQ

https://twitter.com/vv_vaibhavverma/status/1514662551040106518?s=20&t=hEyTpgQEFYjOtSvSTkqYlQ

https://twitter.com/Kritic5/status/1514663388655280134?s=20&t=hEyTpgQEFYjOtSvSTkqYlQ