Hardik Pandya buries IPL setback to smash 40 vs Bangladesh in T20 World Cup warm-up

Hardik Pandya put IPL 2024 woes behind him to score a rapid 40* off 23 balls in India’s T20 World Cup 2024 warm-up match vs Bangladesh. Pandya’s performance in the warm-up will give a lot of confidence to the Indian team. Pandya helped the Indian team reach a total of 182 runs for the loss of 5 wickets in a tricky pitch at Nassau County International Stadium in New York. Pandya's late assault saved India from a middle-over dip, where Shivam Dube found it difficult to time the ball in a two-paced pitch.

Pandya slammed 4 sixes and two boundaries in the innings and was the second-highest scorer for India on the day. The all-rounder returned to India colours for the first time since India's ODI World Cup match against Bangladesh. In that game, Pandya was injured while bowling as he slipped on his mark and hurt his ankle.

After his injury, Pandya made his return in the Indian Premier League 2024 season as the MI captain, but things went horribly wrong for



him and he was criticised by fans and experts throughout the season. Pandya had a poor season with both bat and ball and failed to deliver as the captain as well. Under his leadership, MI finished at the bottom of the IPL table with just 4 wins in 14 matches.

The India all-rounder looked like his own self hitting the spinners out of the park. Pandya targeted his shots over the bowler's head and into the cow-corner region. Pandya's exploits in the final five overs of the game took India's total to 182 runs, which looked like a decent score on the pitch

Interestingly, the soil of the Nassau County pitch in New York has been imported from Adelaide, where Hardik Pandya played his last T20 World Cup innings. In the semi-final match vs England, Pandya, in that game, had smashed 63 off just 33 balls and helped India get to a respectable total. Pandya looked in similar touch, which would give India a lot of confidence going into the 2024 edition of the tournament.