During the second T20I between South Africa and India, India lost plenty of quick wickets after being asked to bat first in slightly overcast conditions. The South African pacers were on the mark from the first ball, making life arduous for Indian batters.
India lost as many as four wickets by the eighth over and had scored only 45 runs, putting themselves in deep trouble. Then came Hardik Pandya at No.6, who was cautious at the start and didn’t take too many risks.
Soon, India also lost Axar Patel in the 12th over and desperately required a partnership. Rinku Singh tried to stitch a stand with Hardik but couldn’t last long, leaving Hardik with tailenders in the death overs.
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Hence, Hardik couldn’t accelerate as well as he would have liked and didn’t take too many singles, either, since Arshdeep Singh was on the other end. He struggled to find gaps, and his aerial shots didn’t connect, even though he tried his best to break the shackles and provide impetus to the innings in the last few overs.
Hardik Pandya Enters Unwanted List after his latest knock
Despite trying his best, Hardik never managed to get going, and while he remained unbeaten till the last ball of the innings, he couldn’t finish off in style. Eventually, he ended with just 39 runs in 45 deliveries, including four boundaries and a maximum, at an abysmal strike rate of 86.66.
With this tepid knock, Hardik entered an unwanted list of slowest knocks by an Indian batter in the shortest format. Among all the batters to have faced at least 40 balls in a T20I innings, Hardik had the third-worst strike rate in this knock.
He is only behind Ishan Kishan (83.33), who scored 35 runs in 42 balls against the West Indies in 2022, and Dinesh Mongia (84.44), who made 38 runs in 45 balls against South Africa in Johannesburg. It was really a scratchy knock from Pandya.
While he was timing the ball well, his placement wasn’t as pinpoint as he would have liked, with 55.56% of balls ending as a dot. Maybe his knock wouldn’t have seen as many dot balls had a proper batter stayed with him till the end.
Top 5 Slowest Knocks by Indian Batters in T20Is
| Batter | Score | Strike Rate | Year |
| Ishan Kishan | 35 (42) | 83.33 | 2022 |
| Dinesh Mongia | 38 (45) | 84.44 | 2006 |
| Hardik Pandya | 39* (45) | 86.66 | 2024 |
| KL Rahul | 51* (56) | 91.07 | 2022 |
| Gautam Gambhir | 56* (60) | 93.33 | 2012 |
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