The mood at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad was simply electrifying on Friday evening as India made a clean sweep of their dominance in the shortest format of the game. In a pulsating final of the series, Men in Blue defeated South Africa by 30 runs to win the five-match T20I series 3-1. It was a team effort that absolutely demolished the Proteas, but it belonged to this one guy who looks like he’s in a class of his own at times: Hardik Pandya.
Hardik didn’t merely play a match, he conducted a symphony of power-hitting and tactical bowling that had him rewriting the record books. From producing the second-quickest fifty for India to entering an ultra-exclusive world all-rounders’ club, Pandya’s showing was a nifty reminder of why he is still arguably India’s most crucial X-factor as they prepare for the T20 World Cup.
The Ahmedabad Assault: A 16-Ball Whirlwind Confederation of Indian Industry/^Getty Images United States v. India — T20I Cricket Series By Sushrut Gautam Updated Feb. 25, 2021, 1:14 p.m. ET Shikhar Dhawan played second fiddle as facepainted fans crawled over trees, walls and hilltops desperate to catch a glimpse of the legend.
Hardik Pandya walked into the middle with India delicately placed at 115/3, and he could feel momentum was desperate for a shove. What ensued was a 25-ball 63, which had the South African bowlers running for cover. The peak of his night was that half century, bring up in just 16 deliveries.
This performance made him the no 2 Indian in the list of fastest 50s in T20I’s for India ahead of the one by Abhishek Sharma last year off a ball less i.e17 balls. If Yuvraj Singh’s blazing 12-ball effort in 2007 remains the gold standard, Hardik’s “brute force” at his former IPL home was indeed the most surgical hitting witnessed this decade in Ahmedabad. With five colossal sixes and an equal number of boundaries, he took India to a challenging 231 for 5, a score which proved to be far too much in the end for the tourists.
Creating History: The Exclusive 2,000 Runs and 100 Wickets Club
Hardik Pandya hasn’t made a difference with just one innings in this series. He used those five matches to reach milestones that not many throughout the history of the game can lay claim to.
- The 2,000-Run Club: With Hardik’s quickfire knock in the fourth T20I, he became just the fifth Indian batsman to breach the 2,000-run barrier in the shortest format of the game. He follows Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav and KL Rahul in the quartet from the set to have come of age.
- The 100-wicket club: During their last series in Dharamsala, Hardik had become the third Indian male bowler to claim 100 T20I wickets, after Jasprit Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh.
- The Ultimate Double: Not only did he reach these landmarks but Hardik is also the first Indian male cricketer to achieve this double – 2,000 runs and 100 wickets in T20Is. He is now alongside few allrounders in the world such as Shakib Al Hasan and Sikandar Raza.
- Surpassing Yuvraj: Not only did Hardik go past Yuvraj Singh for the most “doubles” (scoring 50 or more runs and picking up at least one wicket in the same match) for India (for a fourth time), but Hardik now has as many 60+ scores and three-wicket hauls after 10 ODIs.
- Support Acts: Tilak Varma and Varun Chakravarthy
If Hardik was the headline act, Tilak Varma and Varun Chakravarthy’s emergence defined the series win. Varma, who ended as the series’ top-scorer with 187 runs, starred in the final too, making an exquisite 73 and forging a match-winning 105-run stand with Hardik that virtually batted South Africa out of it.
As far as the bowling is concerned, Varun Chakravarthy once again showed why he is rated as most dangerous T20I spinner in the world at the moment. His 4 for 53 in the last game was his series haul of wickets, which won him the Man-of-the-Series. Even a valiant 65 off 47 balls from Quinton de Kock in his 100th T20I, Chakravarthy’s “mystery” continued to baffle the South African middle order that collapsed from a position of strength at 120/1 to find themselves stranded at 201/8.
A Perfect End to 2025
India’s 3–1 series win is their eighth in a row in T20Is, and this level of sustained excellence will hold them good for their World Cup defence in February 2026. There was also some shameless, “human” moments that fans loved; Hardik blowing flying kisses to his girlfriend, Mahieka Sharma who was watching and cheering him on from the stands – something which became an instant social media smash hit.
The fact that India is capable of winning despite both captain Suryakumar Yadav and opener Shubman Gill being in the midst of lean patches reflects well on the depth of its squad. With Hardik Pandya at his destructive best and the exuberant youth coming to the party, the Indian T20 express seems an unstoppable force.
