Hardik Pandya was the star of the show as Mumbai Indians defeated table-toppers Chennai Super Kings by 37 runs at the Wankhede Stadium on Wednesday evening in the Indian Premier League.
Put in to bat, MI posted 170-5 and then restricted the visitors to 133/8. It was the Super Kings’ first loss of the season.
And the heart of that all-round performance by Mumbai was Hardik, who played a blistering cameo at the end of MI’s innings to make a decent score into a match-winning one. Along with Kieron Pollard, Hardik took 29 runs off the final over bowled by Dwayne Bravo.
Undoubtedly the shot of his 8-ball 25 was a six over midwicket that travelled 91 meters, landing in the second tier. And it was not just an ordinary shot — a helicopter that would have made MS Dhoni, standing behind the stumps, proud.
“Very special, I have been working on that shot (helicopter),” Pandya told iplt20.com. “After playing that shot I was kind of proud, I was expecting MS to come and say ‘good shot’. Generally people like to bowl at the stumps against me. It’s a shot which is not easy but I have seen MS hitting them so many times.”
“He is an inspiration and we try to copy a lots of shots which he plays and this is one of the shots which I’ve copied from him and quite happy that it came out well,” he added.
Here’s the video of that shot (Courtesy: iplt20.com)
Like he said, he has clearly been practising this shot often in the nets as he had posted a video ahead of the ongoing IPL season, playing just that.
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!