Hardik Pandya replies to Shikhar Dhawan's congratulatory tweet

Things were beginning to look grim for India in the first ODI against Australia on Sunday when their scorecard read 87/5 in the 22nd over. What followed suit was another miraculous innings by young Hardik Pandya, ably supported by the calm heroics of former Indian skipper, MS Dhoni. While Pandya’s match-winning efforts were lauded by many, a special tweet also came in for him from his teammate, Shikhar Dhawan.

Dhawan, who’s opted out of the first 3 ODIs in the Australia series, took to Twitter to praise Pandya on his brilliant outing in the Chennai ODI. The latter was quick to thank him, asking him to come back soon to the team. The next ODI between India and Australia will take place at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata on September 21 (Thursday).

Pandya asks Dhawan to take care of his family

After losing wickets in quick succession in the top and middle order, Pandya took the onus upon himself to guide his team to a respectable total of 281. The swashbuckling youngster looked his usual, feisty self as he smashed boundaries all over the park. The one over that stood out, in particular, was the 37th over bowled by Adam Zampa, where Pandya made merry and scored 23 runs off the 6 deliveries with the help of a boundary and 3 consecutive sixers. He scored 83 runs off merely 66 deliveries and also scalped 2 wickets in his bowling stint, including the precious wicket of Australian skipper, Steve Smith.

Shikhar Dhawan, on his part, had requested the board to be exempted from the proceedings of the first 3 ODIs of the series in order to tend to his ailing wife. As he congratulated Pandya for “getting better with every match”, Pandya thanked him and in a sweet gesture, asked him to take care of his family and return to the team soon.

Here’s what HP tweeted: