Hardik Pandya was the biggest gain for the Indian team in the recently concluded ODI series against Australia. Apart from contributing with the ball, he also showed his fortress in batting and proved that he is a perfect all-rounder, a search which was on since the retirement of Kapil Dev.
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Hardik contributed 222 runs with the bat and also scalped a total of six wickets, to earn the Man of the Series award. The most highlighting moment of the series came when he, along with MS Dhoni, steered team India to a score of 281/7, after half of the team was back in the pavilion on 87/5.
There, he did not just scored runs but also batted according to the need of the hour putting a cap on his natural game. He did show his six hitting abilities later, but till then, he did his job to the best.
In short, Hardik was the star of the series for India and thoroughly deserved the accolades which he earned.
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Even before the start of the series, Hardik had made a promise to his brother, which was revealed by Krunal Pandya. After the end of the fifth ODI, Krunal shared something on his social media in which he showed that Hardik had already delivered a promise to him that he will set the stage on fire –
Just before the #INDvAUS series, @hardikpandya7 told me he will set the stage on fire & today I can proudly say, “you did it… and how!”?? pic.twitter.com/ORoYAwAhWz
— Krunal Pandya (@krunalpandya24) October 1, 2017
Hardik delivered to the promise which he made to his brother and played a vital role in India winning the series by a margin of 4-1.
With these sorts of performances, Hardik had quickly shrugged off the tag of a T20 specialist, which was attached to his name when he made his debut, but now, there are no doubts that he is slowly turning out to be a need for the team India in all the formats of the game.
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