WATCH: Hardik Pandya sweats it out in the nets before ODI series against South Africa

Hardik-Pandya

Hardik-PandyaAfter a gap of almost one year, India’s premier all-rounder Hardik Pandya is all set to stage a comeback in the upcoming series against South Africa, starting from March 13. Before that, the stylish cricketer took part in Mumbai’s local T20 Cricket League name DY Patil Cup to get into the groove.

As always, he made a stunning impact on the team’s victory in the tournament as he smashed two swashbuckling centuries to clap back at his critics and let everyone know that he is as effective as he was before making an exit from the team due to injury.

The Indian team is sweating it out in the nets at Dharamshala where the first ODI game against South Africa will take place. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) shared an interesting video of Hardik Pandya on Twitter in which he can be smashing some balls over the boundary ropes just ahead of the inaugural game of the series.

In the video, the “Kung Fu Pandya” can be taking a step back before dispatching the good length to a massive six. In the background, we can see people cheering for Pandya and his power-hitting.

Pandya is coming into this series after a string of centuries in the DY Patil cup. He played an extraordinary knock of 105 off just 39 balls in an encounter against CAG in the ongoing 16th DY Patil Cup and followed it up with an amazing knock of 158 off just 55 balls which helped Reliance 1 post a massive total of 238 for 4 in 20 overs.

Hardik last played an international game for India back in September 2019 before undergoing back surgery.

This will be India’s first series after the humiliating loss they suffered in the Test series against New Zealand. Indian skipper Virat Kohli will be leading the side once against while Rohit Sharma has been given rest for the entire ODI series. Prithvi Shaw and Shubman Gill have also been included in the list while in the bowling department Bhuvneshwar Kumar makes a grand entry into the side. His bowling partner Mohammad Shami has also been rested.

On the other hand, the South African side will have the services of the former skipper Faf du Plessis for the ODI series and Janneman Malan has been added to the squad after an amazing show in the series against Australia.

The first match of the series will be played tomorrow in Dharamshala while the second game will be played in Lucknow on March 15. The third and final game will take place on March 18 in Kolkata.

Squads:

INDIA – Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, Virat Kohli (C), KL Rahul, Manish Pandey, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Navdeep Saini, Kuldeep Yadav, and Shubman Gill.

SOUTH AFRICA – Quinton de Kock (c & wk), Temba Bavuma, Rassie van der Dussen, Faf du Plessis, Kyle Verreynne, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Jon-Jon Smuts, Andile Phehlukwayo, Lungi Ngidi, Lutho Sipamla, Beuran Hendricks, Anrich Nortje, George Linde, Keshav Maharaj, and Janneman Malan.