Pandya scored a half-century and picked four wickets in the T20I series opener.
Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya on Friday (8th July) said that he was happy with himself when he clocked 90 mph with the ball during the first T20I against England in Southampton.
India’s white-ball series against England started with a dominating victory in the first T20I. The visitors thumped the hosts by 50 runs and what stood out tall was their aggressive approach.
The main architect behind their win was Pandya. He displayed a sensational all-round performance and helped his side take a lead of 1-0 in the three-match series.
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With the bat, Pandya smashed his maiden fifty in T20Is and helped his side post a big total of 198 runs on the board. If this was not enough, he stole the limelight with the ball as well.
After Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Arshdeep Singh troubled English batters with their swing, Hardik backed their sensational opening spell and picked 4 wickets to help his side bundle out the opposition for just 148 runs.
Hardik Pandya, who was awarded Player of the Match, also became only the first Indian player in history to score a half-century and bag 4 wickets in a T20I game.
Speaking to Ishan Kishan on BCCI TV, Hardik said that he was delighted with himself after he clocked 90.5 mph. He revealed that he didn’t take rest after the Ireland series and trained continuously for six days.
“I was very happy when I bowled 90.5 mph. Credit goes to the support staff for their efforts behind the scenes. Once the Ireland series was over, we never rested. I trained for six days straight,” Hardik Pandya said.
Hardik talked about India’s game and said that it was a conscious effort by everyone as they expressed themselves and went after the bowlers from the outset.
He added that it’s important for them to maintain the intent and said that he was looking forward to playing risk-free cricket.
“Plan was very simple. As you already know that it is a conscious effort by everyone. We will be making sure that we’ll express ourselves. We’ll go out there and enjoy ourselves. It was exciting to see everyone start hitting from the second ball itself, which is a good sign.
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“Someday, we might end up losing five quick wickets, but more important is to keep this intent and it will add 10-15 runs more to the total. I was looking to play risk-free cricket. scoring fours are more fun than hitting sixes, he said.
Hardik further suggested young players to work hard without thinking about the result.
“Keep working hard without thinking about the result. Success is the by-product of your hard work which you put behind the scenes,” he said.
The second T20I between England and India is slated to take on Saturday (8th July) in Birmingham.
(BCCI inputs)