Hardik Pandya gets Rohit Sharma's appreciation after 'best' IPL 2024 bowling performance ahead of T20 World Cup

Hardik Pandya dished out his best-ever show with the ball, picking three wickets in four overs at an economy rate of 7.80, in the match against SRH.

There have been plenty of concerns on Hardik Pandya performance, whether with the bat or the ball, through the course of the ongoing IPL 2024. With the ball, not only did he skip bowling duties for a few matches, which sparked debate on his fitness and possible place in the T20 World Cup squad, he conceded over 11 runs an over this season with a dismal strike rate.

However, on Monday, in the match against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, Hardik dished out his best-ever show with the ball, picking three wickets in four overs at an economy rate of 7.80. Introducing himself in the over after the powerplay ended, Hardik was smashed for four boundaries across in the first 12 balls before he bounced back to dismiss Nitish Reddy with a short of a length delivery and then got rid of Shahbaz Ahmed and Marco Jansen in his final over. His performance left former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar elated on-air as he said: "This is the best of Hardik's bowling that we have seen."

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Hardik also got appreciated by teammate and India captain Rohit Sharma, who celebrated with his second wicket before giving him a pat on the back.

Hardik's brilliant show with the ball also augurs well for India, who will be opening their T20 World Cup campaign in exactly a month's time against Ireland in New York before taking on Pakistan at the same venue on June 9. The all-around also bowled his full quota of four overs in three consecutive matches for Mumbai Indians, picking seven wickets.

Even amid reports that Hardik could be overlooked for the T20 World Cup amid his forgettable run in IPL 2024, BCCI's selection committee entrusted him with vice-captaincy duties for the impending World Cup. Chief selector Ajit Agarkar justified the call saying that there's no replacement for Hardik's all-round ability.

"Not really, nothing discussed in regards to vice-captaincy that is one answer. Form. I mean you want all guys to be in good form. I think he has come after a long-ish layoff. The good part that we have looked at is that he has got through all the games so far for MI. We have got a month and a little bit till we play our first game," Agarkar in the presser in Mumbai last week.

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