Twitterverse clearly unhappy with reckless shot selection of Hardik Pandya

When the first Test of the ongoing India’s tour of South Africa had concluded, young all-rounder Hardik Pandya saw himself escalate up the ranks in the eyes of the fans and the cricket pundits. However, ever since the game, the Baroda all-rounder has only been a shadow of what he promised he could be during the Cape Town Test. Pandya has not only looked lackluster with the ball, but his batting has been pathetic too.

Well, in all fairness, it is known that the entire Indian batting lineup has been struggling, save Virat Kohli. The tracks in South Africa have been hostile and the one being used for the ongoing Test in the Bullring is the toughest of the lot. But this can certainly not be taken as an excuse for reckless and relentless shot selection. Hardik Pandya was seen getting out for a needless shot in the first innings of the ongoing Test on day one.

That would have been out even on the Indian pitches, many mocked. Truth be told, the disappointment of the fans is quite justified. Earlier in the innings, Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara had done all the hard work to see off the storm of the new moving ball. But the reckless shots of Hardik Pandya and Parthiv Patel nullified all the tough job Kohli and Pujara had done.

Coming to the Pandya’s dismissal, it was a short delivery way outside off stump line by Andile Phehlukwayo. Pandya tried to tuck that over the third man region and ended up getting a thick top edge. Quinton de Kock completed the catch to send Pandya packing for a duck. Interestingly, in the previous Test, he was seen throwing his wicket away in a similar fashion.

In the other innings, his careless running between the wickets had cost him his wicket. All of this is certainly not helping his reputation as the next big thing in Indian cricket. The fans were absolutely unimpressed to see Pandya losing his charm in the series.

Here is how the Twitterati reacted to the dismissal of Hardik Pandya:

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