Hardik Pandya's heroic at the Newlands, Cape Town with the bat has forced to make a long list of his admirers. South African legend Graeme Pollock also praised Pandya's innings.

Hardik's innings ensured that the hosts didn't gained a big lead in the first innings. His partnership of 99 runs with Bhuvneshwar Kumar helped India cross the 200-run mark.

South African legend Graeme Pollock lauded his aggressive batting. When the Indian batting order was struggling against the South African pace attack, Pandya scored 93 runs with 14 fours and one six.

“I liked Pandya’s aggression and his boundary-hitting. You needed someone who could take on an attack like that and this kid did wonderfully well. They bowled a lot of short balls to him and he took them on,” the former left-handed batsman was quoted as saying by Mid-Day.

South African veteran pacer Dale Steyn has been ruled out of the Test series because of injury. Pollock thinks his exclusion will give India a sigh of relief.  He also added that Virat Kohli is the pillar of Indian batting order.

“Look, with Dale Steyn not going to be around (out due to a heel injury), the Indian team can feel some relief, but the other three pacers (Morne Morkel, Vernon Philander, and Kagiso Rabada) are very formidable and tall. The Indians will have to play well to get anywhere in this series. That is not to say that they are incapable,” Pollock stated.

“India has a very balanced team and they have played some wonderful cricket over the last two years, but they will encounter some challenging tracks in Centurion and Johannesburg. It generally rains during this time, so India could encounter some fresh wickets,” he added.