Hardik Pandya has credited former India captain MS?Dhoni for keeping his cool in the 90s. The 23-year-old scored his maiden Test century against Sri Lanka in the third match of the series in Pallekele<\/p>\n
For someone who has not scored many hundreds in his career, it was remarkable how Hardik Pandya paced his innings during his maiden Test hundred. (3rd TEST LIVE SCORES)<\/p>\n
Biding his time initially, getting his eye in and feet moving, shielding his tail-enders and then finally going after the bowling, it was more a seasoned pro in action and not someone who had yet to get a hundred even in first-class cricket.<\/p>\n
Hardik Pandya didn\u2019t even remember when he scored his last hundred.<\/p>\n
When asked about his last hundred, Pandya hesitated. \u201cI scored in under-19. I am 24, no 23. So, some four-five years back, I scored my hundred. Actually I don\u2019t remember when I scored the hundred.\u201d<\/p>\n
The best part was the ease with which he got to the mark with no signs of nervous nineties. He owed the calm nerves to former India captain MS Dhoni\u2019s mentoring.<\/p>\n
\u201c(It was the) first time in my life I have not had the 90s butterflies. I don\u2019t remember previous centuries, but I used to have butterflies in my stomach from what I can remember. I have said when I bat I am in a different zone. I don\u2019t think about my personal scores and achievements. It has helped me. One thing I learned from Mahi bhai is that you always put your team ahead, see the scoreboard and play accordingly. That has helped me throughout.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hardik Pandya started his Test career with a fifty, in the first match of this series at Galle. He came up with an impressive spell when Sri Lankan batsmen Kusal Mendis and Dimuth Karunaratne were raising a 188-run partnership in the second Test in Colombo. And at Pallekele, after his hundred, he came back and took a wicket off his third delivery.<\/p>\n
So, is he making Test cricket look so easy?<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously not!\u201d said Pandya. \u201cBut I am pretty glad. God has been kind to me. I am lucky I got things pretty quickly in life. I am just happy that way. I am getting whatever I have worked hard for.\u201d<\/p>\n
No planned assault<\/p>\n
Pandya said his hundred (108) was all about playing according to the situation and the 26-run over (off Malinda Pushpakumara) just happened. He was on 50 when India\u2019s ninth wicket fell and he went berserk, racing to his next fifty in 25 balls.<\/p>\n
\u201cHonestly, I didn\u2019t want to go all out in that over, but I don\u2019t know what happened. Maybe I was connecting pretty well, and scored 26 runs. It obviously feels good. I saw the scoreboard and I was batting on 80, and I was like, wow! Then I felt I was in the zone, I don\u2019t usually look at the scoreboard, I don\u2019t want to know what\u2019s happening around. I just focus on how I can help the innings progress.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf someone compares you with such legends\u2026 then it feels good. Obviously my focus is to play my cricket and just become what I can. Even if I can be 10 % of what he (Kapil) was, I will be pretty happy in my life.\u201d<\/p>\n
The chief selector, however, had added a caveat, \u2018if he (Pandya) keeps himself grounded\u2019. A calm head to go with his talent will be a winning combination.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Hardik Pandya has credited former India captain MS?Dhoni for keeping his cool in the 90s. The 23-year-old scored his maiden Test century against Sri Lanka in the third match of the series in Pallekele For someone who has not scored many hundreds in his career, it was remarkable how Hardik Pandya paced his innings during […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2050,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[122],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2049","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2049","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2049"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2049\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2051,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2049\/revisions\/2051"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2050"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2049"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2049"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2049"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}