India all-rounder Hardik Pandya blew away the Aussies as they lost the first of five ODI games by 26 runs at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai on Sunday. After India had scored 281 for seven in 50 overs, rain intervened and the Aussies were asked to get 164 in 21 overs. They ended on 137 for nine.
Pandya (83, 66b, 5×4, 5×6) along with MS Dhoni (79, 88b, 4×4, 2×6) put on 118 runs for the sixth wicket to rescue India from 11 for three and 87 for five. Then when Australia batted Hardik (2/28) chipped in with the ball getting rid of skipper Steve Smith (1) and Travis Head (5) to stifle their chase.
However, during Indian innings, fans on social made noticed that Hardik was wearing Mumbai Indians’ gloves. It is uncommon as cricketers don’t usually wear their IPL gears in international cricket matches.
The Baroda lad was also trolled by some of the Indian fans for donning his Mumbai Indians’ gloves while batting.
#INDvAUS I m confused is their a magic in kungfu Pandya or in MI gloves or in Caribbean hair style…😌😌🤔
— Manish tulsani (@tulsani_manish) September 17, 2017
https://twitter.com/its_tabrez_4u/status/909363999325556736
Why Hardik Pandya was wearing Mumbai Indians’ gloves against Australia?
Hardik has many times pointed out that his life changed after joining Mumbai Indians. He believes that Mumbai Indians is his lucky charm and this is why he was wearing those gloves in the first ODI.
Over the years, we have heard many stories of superstition in cricket and this is probably one of those.
“At Mumbai Indians, they just wanted me to enjoy my game and I was just a young kid expressing himself, and who eventually got success. I was getting used to the fame. No one knew who Hardik Pandya was before 2015 IPL. I got picked for Rs 10 lakh. If people knew me I would have got a lot more money, not that it’s only about the money. I was from a struggling family. Well, we had a good family and then things changed, father’s health and all had a grave effect. That helped us. Where we are standing now is because of that situation. It is because how we coped with that,” Pandya had said in an interview to Indian Express.
