Hardik Pandya Saves Day For India as Shubman Gill-Suryakumar Yadav Gives Gautam Gambhir Headache Ahead of T20 World Cup

Ind vs SA: Hardik Pandya made a blockbuster return to international cricket as he came good with the bat and the ball and one can safely say he saved the blushes for India. Pandya, in a way, actually saved the day for the captain and the vice-captain of the T20I side. Had Pandya not got the runs, fingers would have been pointed at the top-order, but not everyday can one expect a middle-order miracle.

Pandya's Blockbuster Comeback 

As Pandya confessed, the strip was tricky. Yet, Gill and Suryakumar are highly-rated batters and the two failing again and again is not ideal at all. Pandya came to the fore and played like only he could. It seemed he was batting on a different wicket altogether as he hot a blistering 59* off 28 balls. 

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The Gill-SKY Fall

Gill perished after facing merely two balls and scoring four runs and just after that, captain Suryakumar departed as well to a restless shot for 12 off 11 balls and that meant India was staring down the barrel. 

Since the Asia Cup 2025 when Gill was drafted back into the side, he has not breached the 50-run mark even once. The closest he came was against Pakistan in Dubai where he scored 47 off 28 balls and then a timely 46 off 39 on a tricky Gold Coast pitch. Apart from that, he does not have any score of real significance.\

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On the other hand, captain Suryakumar has fared a tad-bit better than his deputy. In 2025, his numbers are poor. He averages 15.3 with a strike rate of 127. Not what you expect from a former T20I No. 1 batter.