IND vs NZ | Twitter nervous as umpire survives scare after full-blooded drive from Pandya takes him by surprise

Venkateswaran N

ByVenkateswaran N,SportsCafe Editor

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Umpires have the most thankless job in cricket as they are expected to make accurate decisions while also being at the receiving end from maruading hits from batters. Rohan Pandit was taken by surprise by Hardik Pandya's straight drive before Mitchell Santner’s outstretched arms saved his day.

Hardik Pandya
‌After being put into bat in the first T20I against New Zealand, India had an excellent start at the VCA Stadium in Nagpur. Abhishek Sharma was at his aggressive best as the home side were off the blocks quickly, despite losing Sanju Samson and Ishan Kishan cheaply.

The southpaw smashed four sixes as the Men in Blue raced to 68/2 at the end of the six-over powerplay mark. Meanwhile, captain Suryakumar Yadav played the supporting role to perfection with a couple of boundaries.

But the veteran batter was dismissed by Mitchell Santner against the run of play in the 11th over for a 22-ball 32 with Hardik Pandya walking in. With the stage set perfectly for him, the Indian all-rounder went ballistic straight away, charging down the track to unleash a full-blooded hit back at the left-arm spinner.

With the Kiwi skipper trying to lure Pandya with a flighted delivery at a good length around off stump, the batter accepted it with both hands. However, umpire Rohan Pandit was taken by surprise as he did not expect it from Pandya in his very first ball.

But Santner’s outstretched hands took the fizz out of it as the ball deviated and raced to the boundary. The umpire was already on his way down, ready to take evasive action, before getting up and signalling a boundary.

Twitter was on the edge as the umpire had a close shave before acknowledging it with a sheepish smile.

He went for Umpire's head!

Boom

They are!

Smashed

Knocked out!

That's true!

Fantastic

Shocker!

Tuk tuk

Solid touch

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