'Pleasing to eye'- Hardik Pandya after MS Dhoni and Kedar Jadhav’s match-winning stand

India won their third successive ODI against Australia on Sunday when Virat Kohli’s men beat the visitors by 6 wickets in the first of the five ODIs in Hyderabad. Winning the toss and electing to bat, Australia scored 236 for 7 in 50 overs before India overhauled the target in the penultimate over losing just four wickets. Batting all-rounder Kedar Jadhav was picked as the Man of the Match for scoring a timely 81 not out to pull his team out of trouble and guiding India home.

Veteran wicketkeeper-batsman Mahendra Singh Dhoni also scored 59 not out in 72 balls – his fourth successive ODI half-century against Australia this year. The two came together when India were in a spot of bother at 99 for 4 in the 24th over but they remained unseparated, adding 141 runs for the fifth wicket in almost 25 overs to help India take a 1-0 lead. This is the Men in Blue’s final preparation ahead of the ICC World Cup and the players are expected to give their best to get picked for the final squad taking the flight to the UK.

Pandya is not playing series against Australia owing to back injury

All-rounder Hardik Pandya, who is not playing the series against Australia because of lower back stiffness, expressed his pleasure over India’s win in the Hyderabad ODI and he replied to a video of Dhoni and Jadhav congratulating each other after putting a century stand between them. The rest of the Indian squad, including Kohli, was also seen lauding the duo over their clinical effort. The video was tweeted by the Board of Control for Cricket in India and Pandya replied saying: ‘Pleasing to eye’ with a love emoji.

Here is Pandya’s message

Pandya has witnessed ups and downs in his career of late. After remaining away from the game for a few months following an injury that he sustained during the Asia Cup last September, the ace all-rounder was about to make a comeback in the national side in Australia when he found himself in a controversy related to a television programme.

He was suspended along with KL Rahul for making controversial remarks and eventually made a comeback in international cricket midway in the series against New Zealand and impressed right away. Now, he has been injured yet again and it came at a vital time ahead of the big event in May-July.

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