Hardik Pandya made a blockbuster return to aggressive cricket after an extended damage layoff as he set the bottom for Baroda’s emphatic seven-wicket win towards Punjab within the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy on Tuesday on the Rajiv Gandhi Worldwide Stadium in Hyderabad. The group stage match towards Abhishek Sharma’s Punjab was Hardik’s first aggressive recreation since India’s Asia Cup 2025 Tremendous 4s match towards Sri Lanka. After sustaining an damage, the 32-year-old was compelled to sit down out the ultimate towards Pakistan, and he additionally missed the white-ball collection towards Australia.
Hardik, who’s all set to return to India’s T20I facet for the upcoming five-match collection towards South Africa, starting December 9, hammered 77 runs off 42 balls, and he carried his bat via as Baroda pulled off the chase of 223 with seven wickets in hand and 5 balls to spare.
The proper-hander performed at a strike price of 183.33 as he hammered seven fours and 4 sixes in his 42-ball knock. On account of this efficiency, Baroda pulled off the third-highest chase within the historical past of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.
Nevertheless, Hardik was removed from his greatest with the ball in hand, leaking 52 runs in his quota of 4 overs. He solely managed to choose up one wicket (Anmolpreet Singh) as Abhishek Sharma took a particular liking to him contained in the powerplay, hammering boundaries for enjoyable.
It’s price mentioning that Hardik bowled with the brand new ball and he dished out the opening over of the sport, which noticed him leak 12 runs. Punjab captain Abhishek, at the moment the No.1 T20I batter on the earth, scored 50 runs off 19 balls with the assistance of 5 fours and 4 sixes. This knock helped Punjab publish 222/8 within the allotted twenty overs. Nevertheless, Hardik’s innings ensured the goal was achieved with none fuss.
Hardik at CoE
In accordance with ESPNCricinfo, Hardik had arrived on the Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru on October 15 to start his rehabilitation. He then took a three-day break for Diwali earlier than resuming his health routine from October 21 to November 29.
Hardik can be anticipated to play Baroda’s subsequent Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy fixture towards Gujarat on Thursday, December 4. His availability for the rest of the event will rely on whether or not he is chosen in India’s T20I squad or not.
Baroda started the SMAT marketing campaign on a foul notice, dropping their opening encounters towards Bengal and Puducherry however the facet has now bounced again in model, profitable towards Himachal Pradesh and Punjab.
