After his consistent performances, Hardik Pandya became the first Indian player to become No.1 in the ICC men’s T20I allrounder rankings. He is now tied with Sri Lanka skipper Wanindu Hasaranga.
The 30-year-old Pandya played a pivotal part in India’s T20 World Cup triumph when he picked up the wickets of Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller in the final. He finished the tournament with 144 runs at a batting strike-rate of over 150 and 11 wickets.
After a tumultuous Indian Premier League campaign where he was booed relentlessly when he replaced Rohit Sharma as the captain of the Mumbai Indians franchise, the performances in the T20 World Cup have turned the tide back again in Pandya’s favour.
“It means a lot. Very emotional, we’ve been working very hard and something was not clicking. But today we got what the whole nation wanted. Special for me after my six months, I haven’t spoken a word, things have been unfair, but I knew there’d be a time I could shine. An opportunity like this makes it all the more special,” Pandya had reacted after the T20 WC final match.
