Both Tom Moody and Gautam Gambhir praised Hardik Pandya after he scored 37 off 14 balls with the help of five sixes as the last three overs bowled by Daniel Sams, Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje saw 55 runs as Ishan Kishan. Hardik Pandya hit 7 sixes as Mumbai gave Delhi a 201 run target to win which Delhi failed.
When the word finisher is mentioned, the name of former Indian skipper MS Dhoni always comes to mind. However, following his international retirement and the fact that he will not play many IPLs in future, India remains on the hunt to find its next finisher.
Hardik Pandya who has scored 278 runs in 13 matches averaging 39.71 at a strike rate of 182.89 is doing finisher’s role to perfection and making up for not bowling as he is playing as a pure batsman not to aggravate lower back pain.
Hardik Pandya Is A Rare Finisher: Tom Moody
However, commentator and former batsman and coach Tom Moody lavished praise on Mumbai Indians all-rounder Hardik Pandya, believing that finishers like him are rare. His comments come after Hardik Pandya struck a cameo of 37 off 14 balls against Delhi Capitals in Qualifier 1 of the IPL 2020.
“Finishers like him are rare, and when he’s in that type of form, you’d pick him everyday of the week because players that can put a finishing touch like he did – took the score from what we thought was going to be 170, 175 range – it’s game over. That is an impactful moment in the game, even though he was out there for only 14 balls,” Tom Moody told ESPNCricinfo.
His knock did not include a single boundary, but he did in fact clear the ropes five times. Eventually, his knock along with Ishan Kishan’s half-century propelled MI to post 200/5 which didn’t look likely at the end of the 15-over mark.
Hardik Pandya Getting Those Runs Was Serious Batting: Gautam Gambhir
Besides Tom Moody, former Indian batsman former IPL winning skipper of KKR, Gautam Gambhir too was impressed by Hardik Pandya, saying MI wouldn’t have ended with a total as big as they did without his contribution. Hardik Pandya and Ishan Kishan took 78 off the last five with the all-rounder striking the ball at almost 265 which is unbelievable even in T20 standards.
“It was unbelievable. At one stage you were expecting Mumbai to get what, 170? From there, getting to 200 was unbelievable and that is where I think they pushed Mumbai out of the contest. And then the way they started. Hardik Pandya getting those 37 off 14, 15 balls against Rabada, Nortje is serious batting.” Gambhir said.
Suryakumar Yadav too scored 51 while Ishan Kishan was unbeaten on 55 off 30 balls as Mumbai defeated Delhi third time in IPL 2020 by 57 runs after Jasprit Bumrah too contributed with the ball taking 4 wickets for 14 runs.