'I thought he should be Man of the Match': Hardik Pandya dedicates his award to Natarajan

Hardik Pandya said that T Natarajan should have been adjudged the Man of the Match after India's famous win in the second T20I against Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Sunday. Pandya's stellar cameo helped India register a six-wicket win and take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.

'Special mention to Natarajan'

"They (Australia) were batting really well and we wanted to be positive and special mention to Natarajan as well. I thought he should be the Man of the Match, because the bowlers struggled here and he had a really good game", said Pandya during the post-match interview after being named the Man of the Match for his match-winning knock.

Natarajan was the pick of the bowlers for India in the second match as he finished with figures of 2/20 from his four overs at an economy rate of 5 at a perfect batting surface at the SCG. The yorker specialist had left off from where he had finished in the last game in Canberra. The Tamil Nadu cricketer had finished his spell with figures of 3/30 from his four overs at an economy rate of 7.50 in that contest where India had registered a 11-run win. 

The 29-year-old now has five wickets from two games so far.

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Pandya finishes it off in style

Chasing a stiff target of 195, India had to attack right from the word 'Go' and that is exactly what openers KL Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan had done in the Powerplay overs. Dhawan scored a fine half-century before he was dismissed for 52. Skipper Virat Kohli then took care of the proceedings and brought the visitors back in the hunt with a solid knock of a 24-ball 50 before a brilliant catch from his opposite number Matthew Wade behind the stumps sent him back just when it appeared that he would single-handedly get the job done.

Enter Hardik Pandya and he showed why he is Team India's most bankable power-hitter as he took the Australian bowlers to the cleaners. He hit two big sixes in the final over as the Men In Blue crossed the finish line by six wickets and a couple of balls to spare. The Baroda cricketer remained unbeaten on a 42 (22) at a strike rate of nearly 191 including three boundaries and two maximums.

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