WATCH | Hardik Pandya Takes Virat Kohli Route; Credits 'Partner' Mahieka Sharma After Blockbuster International Comeback

Ind vs SA: Allrounder Hardik Pandya made it a comeback to remember as he smashed a breathtaking 59* off 28 balls against South Africa in the first T20I in Cuttack on Tuesday. Pandya's knock helped India post a challenging 175 for six which eventually proved to more than enough as the hosts won the game by 101 runs. For the unversed, he also picked up the prized wicket of David Miller. Following the win, Pandya was also adjudicated the player of the match for his allround show. 

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After the match, Pandya credited his ‘partner’ for the support. 

‘Special mention to my partner’

"A special mention to my partner. A lot of great things have happened, she’s nothing but best to me ever since she arrived in my life," Pandya said in a video shared on BCCI.tv. 

A day before the match, Pandya hit out at the paparazzi for what he described as disrespectful and intrusive photography of his partner. 

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"I understand that living in the public eye comes with attention and scrutiny, it's part of the life I've chosen. But today something happened that crossed a line," Hardik wrote in an Instagram story. "Mahieka was simply walking down a staircase at a Bandra restaurant when paps decided to capture her from an angle that no woman deserves to be photographed from. A private moment was turned into cheap sensationalism," Pandya put out a note on Instagram. 

Pandya would hope he can continue his good form from Cuttack to Chandigarh, where Team India play the second T20I on December 11. The hosts currently have a 1-0 lead in the five-match T20I series.