Video | Hardik Pandya breaks leg-stump trying to get Afghanistan player out
The Pandya brothers are a household name for every Mumbaikar for two reasons, the first is their skill with the ball and bat and the second is their undying determination to win. Hardik was at his fiercest on Friday, when he hurled the ball towards the stumps to get an Afghanistan batsman out.
Afghanistan geared up to face India, in what became the visiting country’s first official Test match as a cricketing nation which began on June 17 at the M Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore. India won the toss and chose to bat first as the opening duo of Murali Vijay and Shikhar Dhawan both bagged centuries to their name in the first innings itself.
Although Afghanistan fought back in the dying stages of the Day 1, they managed to restrict the Indians to 474 in their first innings. The Afghanistan Batting line-up broke down in a stunning fashion as the visitors were bowled out for 109/10 in the first innings. They were put to bat again, but wickets again fell one after the other and reduced the visitors to 61/5 in the second innings.
Hashmatullah Shahidi and keeper Afsar Zazai were at the crease when Mumbai Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya stepped up to bowl in search for a wicket. Pandya was lucky to get the new ball after he pitched his first delivery of the over as umpire Paul Reiffe opted for change. After four consecutive dot balls, Shahidi looked desperate to get one run off the young pacer.
But Pandya bowled another good length delivery which Shahidi returned straight to the bowler. In a reflex action, Pandya grabbed onto the ball and threw it towards the stumps catching Shahidi by surprise, who swerved to the right to escape the ball’s trajectory. Pandya’s throw hit the leg-stump and broke it into two pieces that got the entire crowd in cheers. The people on the pitch saw the lighter side of the incident while Pandya turned back with a grin on his face.
