Team India’s star all-rounder Hardik Pandya once again created a sensation by surpassing former Indian captain MS Dhoni’s tally of smashing 116 fours in T20Is. On October 9 (Wednesday), the 31-year-old cricketer required a boundary to break Captain Cool’s record of striking most fours for India in T20Is.
The 2nd T20I match between India and Bangladesh at Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi witnessed huge power-hitting strokes from the batters. Under Suryakumar Yadav’s captaincy, the men-in-blue team won their second game by 86 runs to take a lead of 2-0 in the 3-match T20I series.
Despite losing 3 wickets in the powerplay overs, Nitish Kumar Reddy’s 34-ball-74-run knock and Rinku Singh’s 29-ball-53 runs stitched a 108-run partnership. But, the explosive performances of Hardik Pandya and Riyan Parag in the death overs propelled India to a total of 221-9 in 20 overs. Also, the disciplined approach of the Indian bowlers restricted Bangladesh to 135-9 in 20 overs.
In the first T20I, Hardik delivered a top-notch performance by scoring an unbeaten 16-ball-39-run knock, that included 5 fours and 2 sixes at a massive strike rate of 243.75. Ahead of the second match, the Hard-hitting Pandya with 1,562 T20I runs required another 56 runs in Delhi to rank above Dhoni on the list of most successful Indian batsmen in the T20I format.
Let’s find out Hardik Pandya’s performance in IND vs BAN 2nd T20I match 2024 and his efforts to overtake MS Dhoni’s record to achieve a crucial milestone in his career.
How did Hardik Pandya break MS Dhoni’s tally of hitting massive fours in T20Is?
After the dismissal of Nitish Kumar Reddy, Hardik Pandya arrived at the crease and smashed a four in the 2nd ball of the 14th over bowled by Rishad Hossain. Smacking his first boundary in the match, Hardik topped MS Dhoni’s T20I career total of 116 fours.
Similar to the first T20I match, Pandya recreated a dazzling performance with his blistering knock of 19-ball-32 runs that included 2 fours and 2 sixes at a strike rate of 168.42.
Hardik Pandya set to break another record of MS Dhoni in T20Is
After the 2nd T20I match, Hardik Pandya with 1,594 runs in 81 T20I innings, fell 24 runs short of breaking another lifetime record of MS Dhoni, who achieved 1,617 in 85 innings.
Team India with a score of 213-6, entered the last over of the first innings as a huge focus was set on posting a massive total with Hardik Pandya on strike. The right-handed batsman could have made use of his power-hitting abilities against Rishad Hossain’s final over to easily score another 24 runs or more.
As the first ball was declared wide, Hardik muscled the next delivery off the back foot. He attempted to smash a six by hitting straight down, playing a similar kind of shot executed in the previous match. However, the ball didn’t get the proper elevation even after generating huge power. Bangladeshi all-rounder Mehidy Hasan Miraz’s catch at deep extra cover on the off-side resulted in Hardik’s dismissal.
In contrast to the expectations, the Indian team managed to score only 8 runs off the last over, as Varun Chakaravarthy (0 from 2 balls) and Arshdeep Singh (6 runs from 2 balls–including a six) lost their wickets instantly.
Suppose, Hardik Pandya hadn’t lost his wicket in the final over, he would have easily powered India’s total of 235 to 240 runs as well as attained another vital achievement in the same match. As a consequence, the all-rounder has to wait for his next match to cross 1600 T20I runs in his career.
List of Batters with Most Runs for India in T20Is
Currently, Hardik Pandya ranks at the eighth position among these batters in the list who have scored the most runs for India in T20Is:
| Rankings | Player | Runs | Innings | Matches Played |
| 1. | Rohit Sharma | 4,231 | 151 | 159 |
| 2. | Virat Kohli | 4,188 | 117 | 125 |
| 3. | *Suryakumar Yadav | 2,461 | 69 | 73 |
| 4. | *KL Rahul | 2,265 | 68 | 72 |
| 5. | Shikhar Dhawan | 1,759 | 66 | 68 |
| 6. | MS Dhoni | 1,617 | 85 | 98 |
| 7. | Suresh Raina | 1,605 | 66 | 78 |
| 8. | *Hardik Pandya | 1,562 | 80 | 104 |
NOTE: Here “*” indicates that the batsmen are still active in their T20I career.
Overall Opinion
The third and last T20I match of this series on October 12 (Saturday) will be crucial for Hardik Pandya to become the sixth-highest-scoring batsman for India, only if he manages to overtake MS Dhoni’s position by scoring another 24 runs.
Batting at number five and six positions in the first and second matches, Hardik Pandya scored 71 runs by facing just 35 balls in this series so far, smashing 7 fours and 4 sixes. Currently, he is the 2nd leading run-scorer of the ongoing white ball series with a strike rate of 202.86 and an average of 71.
Ultimately, Hardik Pandya with his red-hot form proves his fierceness as the best finishing batsman for Team India. As a result, he will be one of the valuable players to watch out for in the third T20I match scheduled to take place in Hyderabad.
↻ Ranji Trophy: Virat Kohli, Pant Named In 84-Member Delhi Probables List
