By Admin 
Hardik Pandya knows how to put on a show. Fireworks were expected when Baroda drafted him into the playing eleven for its Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy clash against Punjab, his first competitive game of cricket since India’s Asia Cup Super Four match against Sri Lanka on September 26.
The plan to increase security was validated when 10,000-odd fans thronged the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium and all streets leading to it on Tuesday.
Hardik delivered, but chose cautious stability over spectacle.
While he landed in the city earlier this week, there remained some doubt about Baroda fielding Hardik immediately. All doubts withered away as he walked out for pre-match training.
On matchday, with a crowd barely seated in their eagerness to cheer everything the object of their attention was doing, Hardik flexed his muscles and got things started with the ball. A flat pitch offered nothing for the all-rounder to work with as he finished as his team’s most expensive bowler. The wicket of Anmolpreet Singh was consolation on a day when he conceded 52 runs (7×4, 2×6).
None of that brought down the tension in the air, as fans waited with bated breath to see the all-rounder wielding his willow.
Coming into bat in the sixth over, Hardik masterfully kept Baroda in the 223-run chase. If quick singles and breezy twos showed that he was back to full fitness, the rasping drives and lofted shots, peppering the ball across the ground, showed that he barely lost his touch.
The swagger in shots was like a hit of adrenaline for the fans, with some even evading the security for selfies with him mid-match. His teammates on the sidelines loved it all just as much, alternating between cheers and claps all through his knock.
He finished unbeaten on 77, from 42 balls. The underlying numbers were just as good: seven fours, four sixes, just eight dot balls, and a strike rate of 183.33.
Hardik Pandya. Back in action and in sublime form. Just in time to get picked for India’s T20 series against South Africa? No reason not to think so.