Anil Kapoor and Hardik Pandya display their mutual admiration on Twitter

The highly anticipated India-Australia ODI series finally got underway on September 17. Much like the 2013 series, fans were expecting a run fest from both sides with the likes of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Steve Smith scoring heaps of runs in Chennai.

However, it soon turned out to be an anti-climax in first few overs itself with the likes of Rahane, Kohli and Manish Pandey departing without troubling the scorers. After a brief resistance and counter-attacking stroke play, Kedar Jadhav and Rohit Sharma also joined their teammates in the pavilion.

India was in no position to score even 220 when India’s new found sensation Hardik Pandya joined ‘Thala’ of CSK and Chepauk stadium, MS Dhoni, with India tottering at 87-5.

After a substantial amount of consolidation, all hell broke loose for the Baroda-lad as he smashed Adam Zampa for three consecutive sixes in the 36th over of the Indian innings. Zampa conceded 24 in that over which turned the course of the game.

Pandya scored a phenomenal inning of 83 off just 66 deliveries, smashing 5 sixes and 5 boundaries in the knock. A late onslaught from MS Dhoni, who scored 79, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar took India to a score of 281, which looked impossible when Pandya walked into bat with the former skipper.

As a result, Twitterati couldn’t help but praise Pandya since that game-changing knock. Veteran Bollywood actor Anil Kapoor took to Twitter to applaud the knocks from Pandya and MS Dhoni while congratulating the Indian team for their victory.

“Incredible recovery & a smashing win by India! @hardikpandya7 & @msdhoni are true champs! What a great game!! #INDvAUS #bleedingblue,” tweeted Anil Kapoor. Soon after Hardik Pandya replied to the actor’s message by saying,”Thank you sir! I’m a big big fan of yours”, displaying the mutual admiration they have for each other.

“@hardikpandya7 After the way you played yesterday, the whole country is your fan! So proud of you & #TeamIndia!” concluded Anil Kapoor.

Here’s the ‘Jhakkaas’ Thread

Incredible recovery & a smashing win by India! @hardikpandya7 & @msdhoni are true champs! What a great game!! #INDvAUS #bleedingblue

— Anil Kapoor (@AnilKapoor) September 17, 2017

Thank you sir! I'm a big big fan of yours ?

— hardik pandya (@hardikpandya7) September 17, 2017

@hardikpandya7 After the way you played yesterday, the whole country is your fan! So proud of you & #TeamIndia! https://t.co/Dxh0VhZvV9

— Anil Kapoor (@AnilKapoor) September 18, 2017