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Cricket PlayersWatch: Pandya's golden reply to 'badi paari kitne kareeb hai' question goes viral after India star's crazy knock vs ENG
Hardik Pandya smashed a brilliant 63 off just 33 deliveries against England to take India to 168/6 in 20 overs in the T20 World Cup semi-final.
India's star all-rounder Hardik Pandya saved his best for the big stage as he smashed a brilliant 63 off just 33 deliveries in the semi-final against England in Adelaide. Pandya joined Virat Kohli at the crease when the side was struggling at 75/3 in 11.2 overs, having just lost the wicket of the in-form Suryakumar Yadav; however, the all-rounder forged a 61-run stand with Kohli (50), and did a majority of the hitting towards the finishing over of the innings to take the side's score to 168/6.
While Pandya has been performing impressively with the ball, he was yet to hit his explosive best in the batting department in the World Cup this year; on Thursday, however, it seemed Pandya knew a special knock was due. During a pre-match interview on Star Sports, when the former India bowler Irfan Pathan asked Pandya that India are yet to see a big innings from Pandya, the all-rounder replied that it might be coming in the “next 1.5-2 hours.”
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Following his knock, the fans were in awe of Pandya's “confidence” as they recalled the all-rounder's words from the interview.
Even Irfan Pathan couldn't resist referring the interview as Pandya reached his half-century in the innings. He wrote, “Aaj dekhna irfan bhai”… when I said tu bindasst khel to @hardikpandya7 Well batted buddy."
Earlier, England captain Jos Buttler had won the toss and opted to bowl in Adelaide, and had made an excellent start as they removed opener KL Rahul (5) early in the game. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli then forge 47-run partnership, but Rohit's slow knock (27 off 28 balls) meant India were reeling at 56/2 in the ninth over of the innings. Things went worse for the men in blue when Suryakumar Yadav (14) was also dismissed as he took on Adil Rashid; fortunately for the side, Pandya returned to run-scoring in style to steer the side out of trouble alongside Kohli.
The winner of the semi-final between India and England sets up a final clash with Pakistan at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday.
