Watch: Hardik Pandya caught the eye with the bat during the India-Australia T20 World Cup Super Eights clash, as he smashed a helicopter shot through the off side for six off Marcus Stoinis.
India were put in to bat at the Daren Sammy International Stadium in St. Lucia, and got off to a quick start. Despite losing Virat Kohli, captain Rohit Sharma took on the Australian bowling, getting to a fifty off just 19 balls and eventually scoring 92 off 41 balls before being bowled by Mitchell Starc in the 12th over.
Hardik Pandya came to the crease in the 15th over, after Suryakumar Yadav was caught behind off Starc for a quickfire 31. In the company of Shivam Dube, he helped India to 181-4 in 18 overs, when Marcus Stoinis came on to bowl his final over.
The first ball of the over was pitched full outside off stump. In order to reach it, Pandya stretched and threw his weight through the ball, sending it over cover all the way for six. The momentum of his swing nearly took the batter off his feet as he had to pirouette, turning a full 360 degrees to keep his balance.
The shot was reminiscent of the 'helicopter', made popular by Indian legend MS Dhoni who often employed the shot to get under yorker-length deliveries at the back end of the innings in white-ball cricket. Pandya has played the shot on several occasions, as has Afghanistan star Rashid Khan.
Pandya then hit the next delivery from Stoinis for six before the bowler managed to take something out of the over by dismissing Dube. India finally ended up scoring 205-5, giving Australia a mountain to climb if they wanted to keep their hopes of qualifying for the semifinal alive. They started the chase in right earnest despite losing David Warner early on, getting to 99-2 by the halfway point in the innings.
Watch Hardik Pandya hit a helicopter shot off Marcus Stoinis:
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