The premier Indian all-rounder, Hardik Pandya finally played a competitive match on Friday when he took the field for Reliance 1 in the DY Patil T20 Cup against Bank of Baroda. He impressed with the bat in the game by smashing 38 off 25 balls, and with the ball, he scalped three wickets after conceding 26 runs. Along with the Baroda all-rounder, other national players Shikhar Dhawan and Bhuvneshwar Kumar also played in the match.

Hardik was expected to be picked for the Indian team for the next leg of the New Zealand tour after he recovered from surgery in the UK last October. He was supposed to play for India’ A’ against New Zealand’ A’ before making a national comeback, but he pulled out of the tour since he was not yet in shape.

Pandya came out to bat at No.4 in the T20 game and played the knock that included one four and four sixes. He came to the crease when Reliance 1 were 38 for 2, having lost Dhawan (14) and Vishnu Solanki (5). The Indian all-rounder then stabilized the innings with Saurabh Tiwary (41) by adding 53 runs for the third wicket.

ALSO READ: BCCI To Evaluate Works load Before Sending Indian Players For Asia XI

Hardik had a slow start as he scored seven runs off the first 12 balls, but then he decided to increase the momentum. He was particularly brutal against spinner Varun Sood who he belted for four sixes before getting caught in the long-on area. The all-rounder later picked three wickets with the ball.

Here is the video of Hardik’s knock:

The Indian team management will be hoping that Hardik will soon come back. His franchise in the Indian Premier League (IPL) — Mumbai Indians — are also closely watching his progress as the tournament is set to begin in another month’s time.

ALSO READ: Gautam Gambhir Known When Virat Kohli Performs His Best

India will be locking horns with South Africa for three ODIs after returning from New Zealand where their second Test with the Kiwis begins on Saturday. All eyes are now on whether Pandya makes a return to the international set-up. He has been plagued by injuries for quite some time now.