Hardik Pandya last bowled in an ODI during the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup semi-final against New Zealand which India lost by 18 runs. In that period, Hardik Pandya has not bowled as he looks to manage a long term back-injury which he sustained in the Asia Cup 2018 tournament. Hardik Pandya did not play in the New Zealand series and in the home series against Australia, he did not bowl. The India cricket team all-rounder did not bowl in the entire IPL as he was not 100 percent fit yet for bowling. In the first ODI in Sydney, Hardik Pandya did not bowl.
However, in a surprising move by captain Virat Kohli, Hardik Pandya bowled in an ODI after 507 days as he came into the attack in the 36th over. Lacking any form of pace and clearly looking rusty, Hardik Pandya conceded just five runs as he relied on cutters and the right length to restrict the Australian batsmen. Hardik Pandya bowled even the second over but clearly it looked like he was struggling.
It looked like Virat Kohli was making up overs in order to compensate for the poor show by Navdeep Saini, who conceded 55 runs in his six overs. Before Hardik Pandya bowled an over, Virat Kohli gave an over to Mayank Agarwal for the first time in his international career. However, that still could not stop Steve Smith as he continued to punish India.
Steve Smith the destroyer
Steve Smith continued his magnificent form against India as he notched up yet another fifty. In the previous game against India at the Sydney Cricket Ground, Steve Smith blasted a century off just 62 balls and it was the third-fastest by an Australian in ODIs behind Glenn Maxwell and James Faukner.
In this game, Steve Smith continued to find the boundaries and looked in total control as he notched up his fifth consecutive fifty-plus score against India. Before his fifty in Sydney on Sunday, Smith’s last four innings against India were 69, 98, 131 and 105 in the previous four games. With this fifty, Steve Smith became the second batsman after New Zealand’s Kane Williamson to hit five consecutive fifty-plus scores in ODIs against India.
A win for Australia will help them win a series for the first time after more than a year against India, having lost the previous series 1-2 in India.
