India had England on the mat on day two of the third Test against England at Trent Bridge as they took a 292-run second innings lead.
On Sunday, Virat Kohli’s men added only 22 runs to their overnight score before being bowled out for 329. They then came out all guns blazing with the ball to bundle out the hosts for just 161 before putting up 124-2 in their second innings.
It was a day which belonged to one man and that man was none other than Hardik Pandya who finished with career-best figures of 5-28.
Here, we take a closer look at his outstanding display with the ball.
STATISTICS
OVERS BOWLED: 6
WICKETS: 5
RUNS CONCEDED: 28
ECONOMY-RATE: 4.66
30-SECOND REPORT
It was Pandya’s day at Trent Bridge as he put in a sensational display of swing and accuracy which even James Anderson would have been proud of. The 24-year-old was given the ball after an injury to Ravi Ashwin forced him off the field and Pandya delivered like no other by striking with his very first ball. The all-rounder wrecked England’s batting order in a 29-ball burst in which he picked up a maiden Test five-wicket haul. He removed England’s two best batsmen in Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow while also claiming the wickets of Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid and Stuart Broad.
Hardik Pandya Spell:
— Broken Cricket (@BrokenCricket) August 19, 2018
W 2 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 1 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 4 W 4 4 0 W W 0 0 0 W 0
Five overs Five wickets!
GOT RIGHT
Swing and plenty of it. What worked for Pandya on Sunday was the fact that he got the ball to move both ways creating plenty of doubts in the batsmen’s minds. However, it was the control Pandya exerted over the moving ball that sent England’s batsmen in a dizzy. While the likes of Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah were scatter-gun at times, Pandya got the ball to pitch in the danger areas more often than not and let the swing on offer do the rest of the job.
GOT WRONG
There is barely any fault one can find in a performance which fetched five wickets in just 29 deliveries. If any criticism can be levelled against Pandya’s performance, it would be the few times he lost control of the ball and bowled very wide. However, those instances were few and far in between.
VERDICT – 9/10
Quite simply, it was Hardik Pandya’s best ever performance with the ball in India colours. It might even be the series-defining spell for India if they can claw their way back and it will go some way in justifying the immense faith the team management has bestowed on him so far ever since he emerged from the IPL. The all-rounder’s place has been called into question of late given his low returns with the ball but after Sunday, his bowling credentials have been enhanced like never before. With the way he has batted in the previous two Tests, Pandya is now showing plenty of signs of fulfilling the role of a seaming all-rounder which India have been desperately searching for a long time.
That Indian dressing room sees something in Hardik Pandya which a lot of people on the outside don't. Guess which bit matters... #EngvInd
— Chetan Narula (@chetannarula) August 19, 2018
