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Fans expressed their happiness at Mumbai Indians (MI) skipper Hardik Pandya's impressive bowling spell against the SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) on Monday, May 6. He finished with figures of 3/31 off four overs, while taking an important wicket of Nitish Reddy, who top-scored for SRH in the last game.
Pandya had been under fire due to his switch from the Gujarat Titans to the Mumbai Indians ahead of the IPL 2024 season. The reason was his ditching the Titans, whom he led to two successive final appearances (title in 2022), and replacing Rohit Sharma as the leader of MI.
In the first nine games, Hardik Pandya bowled 19 overs and took four wickets at an economy of 11.9. However, he has made a major turnaround in the last three games, bowling 12 overs and securing seven wickets at an economy of 8.4.
Watch all Hardik Pandya's three wickets below:
The bowling form of Pandya certainly has impressed the cricket fraternity. With him being chosen as the vice-captain of the Indian team for the ICC T20 World Cup 2024, fans feel Hardik Pandya is peaking at the right time with the ball, and want him to replicate the same with the bat as well.
Below are the reactions of fans on X (formerly Twitter):
"Rohit Sharma guiding his players before the world Cup, even Hardik Pandya is coming back in form," one fan tweeted.
"The way captain Hardik Pandya has improved his bowling just by backing himself is unbelievable. It is positive news to Mumbai Indians as well as the Indian cricket team," another commented.
Fans also reserved high praise for Pandya's captaincy in the game:
"Extremely happy for Hardik Pandya, bowling well for the last few games, ahead of the World Cup. India needs him. Also, fantastic captaincy against this powerhouse batting lineup of SRH," one fan noted.
"Good captaincy by hardik pandya. Rotate his bowlers very well," a fan tweeted.
Hardik Pandya's MI set up for a chase of 174 against SRH
Although Hardik Pandya and Piyush Chawla picked three wickets each, the SunrRisers Hyderabad managed to post a formidable total of 174. Travis Head (48) and Pat Cummins (35*) were the top scorers for the visitors.
It will be interesting to see if SRH can secure an important victory and solidify their claim for the top two spots to gain an advantage in the playoffs. Meanwhile, MI would look to play for pride, having been already disqualified from the race to the playoffs.
