T20 World Cup 2021: Hardik Pandya and Mohammad Shahzad collide dangerously in Abu Dhabi

Hardik Pandya’s injuries have been a topic of discussion in the country for some time now. His form has been questioned as well, but he showed all his class with the bat against Afghanistan on Wednesday, November 3 in Abu Dhabi. However, during his knock, he almost injured himself. As a matter of fact, he almost took another player with him. 

During the death overs of India’s batting innings, Hardik Pandya launched the first ball of the 18th over by Naveen-ul-Haq. His big shot suggested he was aiming for the long-on boundary, but he only managed an edge as the ball went up high in the air. Najibullah Zadran, who was standing in the mid-on position, dropped the catch. 

The dropped catch allowed Pandya and Rishabh Pant, who was batting with him at the time, to try and get a second run. As the Baroda all-rounder was trying to enter the crease, he collided with the Afghanistan wicketkeeper Mohammad Shahzad. Hardik directly went and bumped into Shahzad and both the players fell on the ground. 

Hardik Pandya didn’t take the field initially during Afghanistan’s batting innings

Due to the collision both Shahzad and Hardik were injured slightly. As Pandya sat there, he indicated that he needed some help. The Afghan keeper actually got hurt on his back because he turned around as the Indian player bumped into him. He wasn’t amused at first and it didn’t seem he saw the funny side of it. Rashid Khan was seen coming and speaking to Hardik. Later on, Pandya also went and had a word with Shahzad. 

Hardik pandya sinple catch dropped and
he smashed into wicket keeper shahzad#INDvsAFG #fixed pic.twitter.com/LidJj3SXL6

— Tauqeer Shah (@SydTauqeerShah) November 3, 2021

Unfortunately, during his knock, Pandya also got hurt a bit on his elbow with a quick ball. He didn’t enter the field when the rest of the Indian team went out to defend the total of 210 for 2. Ishan Kishan was seen acting as a sub fielder. But, Pandya later returned on the field and was also seen bowling. As far as Pandya’s batting is concerned, he ended with 35 runs from 13 balls. Pant, on the other hand, scored 27 runs in as many balls. 

Apart from those two, it was the Indian openers, KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma who set a wonderful platform. They put on 140 runs in 14.4 overs, with Rohit making 74 runs from 47 balls while Rahul made 69 runs from 48 balls.