Hardik Pandya’s 93-run inning on the second day at the Newlands, Cape Town turned out to be the real saviour for the Indian cricket team. It not only kept alive the Indians on the bouncy track but also saved them from following on. A massive 99-run stand between Pandya and Bhuvneshwar Kumar took the team total from 92/7 to 191/8 as Bhuvi lost his wicket to Morne Morkel and returned to the dressing room after scoring the much-needed 25 runs off 86 balls.
During their stint at the crease, both Bhuvi and Pandya indulged in several chats as the cricketers usually do. There was a moment when their conversation was captured in the stump mic. The incident happened during the 46th over when Pandya was batting and Morne Morkel was the bowler who delivered an outswinger quite away from the off-stump. Though Pandya left the ball, moments later he asked Bhuvi (who was at the non-striker’s end) in Hindi, “Laga Dun Kya?” (Should I smash him, huh?).
Pandya asks Bhuvi if he should have smashed Morkel pic.twitter.com/gcxk1FWrxe
— anshul kothari (@slimshady_ansh) January 6, 2018
The moment he uttered those words, commentator Harsha Bhogle translated it and burst into chuckles after watching Pandya’s gesture.
Another conversation happened between this duo was even more interesting. This time Bhuvi was one whose voice was captured in the mic. The South African bowling attack was already troubling the Indian batsmen and when Bhuvi came to bat, the attack became even more dangerous. So, Bhuvi asked Pandya to handle Dale Steyn’s attack as he was not able to understand his bowling. He said:
Bhuvi just said to #HardikPandya about Steyn’s swing – “Iska dekh liyo. Mujhe to samajh nahi aa raha hai kya ho raha hai.” 😀 This is so much fun! Turn the stump mic up! #INDvSA
— Anuj Mathur (@anuj_mathur) January 6, 2018
ALSO READ: Hardik Pandya departs on 93, Faf du Plessis kisses Kagiso Rabada’s forehead for the wicket
Pandya fell short by 7 runs for his 2nd Test ton and was dismissed by Kagiso Rabada in the 70th over. India were all-out on 209 in 73.4 overs in the first innings.
