Irfan Pathan smashed 54 runs off of just 38 deliveries to help the home team to a massive total of 385/9. His innings included three fours and three sixes in addition to the three boundaries he hit.
After Hardik Pandya‘s vital cameo performance in the third One-Day International match between India and New Zealand in Indore, former Indian cricket team all-rounder Irfan Pathan was effusive in his appreciation for Pandya.
Irfan Pathan praised Pandya for his style and attitude during the quick fire knock, and he noted the all-around threat that Pandya poses to Team India. Pathan’s comments came after the quick fire knock.
“He is a very important contributor to the team. To strike the right balance, you need a guy that is capable of both batting and bowling. It is quite challenging to find a player with the same level of ability that Hardik Pandya brings to the Indian team.
There aren’t many players in cricket who are like him, thus you won’t find them often. His ability to bat was the first indication of his strength. It seemed like he was playing tennis on the cricket field with the strokes he was hitting and the straight pulls he was hitting.
It was a remarkable shot, and after that, he continued to demonstrate his power and range in the strokes that he took, “Irfan Pathan was quoted as saying to Star Sports.
In the first over of the New Zealand batting innings, Pandya delivered with the ball as well as he castled the opening batter for the Kiwis, Finn Allen.
Irfan Pathan made the observation that the all-game rounder’s has progressed to the point where he is no longer affected negatively by the use of an outdated ball.
“If he is in the zone, it will be very challenging to pull him back out. The other batsmen were having trouble scoring against the old ball, but Hardik Pandya did not have that much trouble scoring, so the knock came at the perfect time and it came quickly as well. This is because of how the other hitters were finding it tough to score “Pathan added.