Hardik Pandya Takes Three Wickets In Three Overs. Virat Kohli Can’t Keep Calm. Watch | Cricket News

Hardik Pandya is back to his best as an all-rounder. The star has been contributing both with the bat and ball in the limited overs formats. He has also been regularly leading the team in the T20Is. He was also the stand-in captain in the first ODI against Australia. On Wednesday, Pandya once again proved to be quite a handful with the ball as he took three wickets in three overs. With Australia in full flow, reaching 61/0 in 10 overs, Pandya came to India’s rescue. He got the wickets of Travis Head (33), Steve Smith (0) and Mitchell Marsh (47) in the 11th, 13th and 15th overs respectively.

Pandya’s first victim was Head on the penultimate ball of the 11th over. Off a back of a length delivery, Head cut it away to backward point only to be caught by Kuldeep Yadav. Then in the second ball of the 13th over, it was Smith’s turn. The Australia skipper played away from the body and edged to wicketkeeper KL Rahul. This was the 5th time Hardik Pandya has dismissed Smith in ODIs.

.@hardikpandya7 picks up two quick wickets as Travis Head and Steve Smith depart.

Watch the two dismissals here #INDvAUS @mastercardindia pic.twitter.com/65yyVrPR2f

— BCCI (@BCCI) March 22, 2023

IND vs AUS: pic.twitter.com/vywCqIHPPK

— Gujarati Sunny (@GujaratiSunny1) March 22, 2023

The third wicket was the most crucial, as Pandya got the on song Marsh. The Australian played on a delivery from Pandya onto the stumps.

Meanwhile, former India cricketer Ajay Jadeja feels that aggressive style of captaincy that Hardik Pandya does would bring the interest of the fans back in the format. Notably, Hardik led India for time in an ODI during a match against Australia in Mumbai on Friday. The hosts won the game by 5 wickets.

“Whenever you watch Hardik Pandya play, he plays in a different way. Not just playing, watch him walking in the afternoon, he has a different vibe. He is always aggressive, so when you look at the playing XI, who were the bowlers, Shami, Siraj, be it a good or bad day for him, that’s different. Then he has kept Kuldeep, then he himself bowls aggressively. Jadeja is a defensive bowler but is not really defensive. His mindset is aggressive so the captaincy doesn’t have a drag in games. Everyone has their own way, some are successful, some are not,” said Ajay Jadeja on Cricbuzz.