Published 18:59 IST, October 26th 2020
Hardik Pandya referred to as 'Boom Boom' by Riteish Deshmukh, fans correct actor
Hardik Pandya's "smashing innings" on Sunday night received praise from all quarters on Twitter. Among the big names praising him was actor Riteish Deshmukh.
Mumbai all-rounder Hardik Pandya may have been under some pressure at the Dream11 IPL 2020 but he has not let it show. Taking on the role of a finisher along with Kieron Pollard, Pandya has not bowled a single over at the tournament so far. The reasons behind this could be varied - Pandya has been struggling with injuries for some time - or perhaps his services as a bowler are not essential in a team that boasts the likes of Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult. Pandya has played some quick knocks but he outdid most his performances last night against Rajasthan.
Riteish Deshmukh's cricketing blunder leaves fans in splits
Hardik Pandya's "smashing innings" on Sunday night received praise from all quarters on Twitter. Among the big names praising him was actor Riteish Deshmukh, who took to the microblogging site to praise Pandya's skills as a finisher. However, in his tweet, Deshmukh wrote "Boom Boom" with two explosion emojis after it. "Boom Boom", of course, is the nickname of Jasprit Bumrah, one of the premier bowlers in the game right now. Fans were quick to point out the actor's blunder on Twitter.
Hardik Pandya Dream11 IPL 2020 stats
Mumbai were on the way to a par total batting first against Rajasthan on Sunday night. Each of the Rajasthan bowlers bowled pretty well, restricting Mumbai to 101 for 4 in the 14th over. Pandya's general batting partner and Mumbai's stand-in captain Kieron Pollard had just fallen to Shreyas Gopal for a mere 6 runs. Hardik Pandya started slowly, choosing to take singles in the next three overs against Rahul Tewatia, Shreyas Gopal and Kartik Tyagi.
He held back and let Saurabh Tiwary do the heavy-hitting against the dangerous-looking Jofra Archer in over 17. In the 18th over, Pandya took over as Ankit Rajpoot came to bowl. Pandya slammed Rajpoot for four sixes in that over, finishing with 33 runs from 14 balls from 8 runs off 9 in the previous over. Jofra Archer reined in the run rate a bit, coming on in the 19th over. He gave away only three runs and picked the wicket of Saurabh Tiwary, leaving Pandya to finish the game for Mumbai.
At this point, Mumbai had made 168. Pandya absolutely crushed the last over, scoring 27 runs off Tyagi (3 sixes and 2 fours) to propel Mumbai to 195. He ended the innings with 60* off just 21 balls, and recorded his highest score at the Dream11 IPL 2020 so far. Pandya has scored 224 runs at a strike rate of 182.11 this year. This is the third-highest SR at the Dream11 IPL 2020.
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Image Credits: Hardik Pandya Twitter
Updated 18:59 IST, October 26th 2020