Will Hardik Pandya replicate his fiery form for Mumbai Indians?

A collage of screengrabs on Twitter

In #AajKaTaazaBakar, Hardik Pandya justified his return to fitness in some style as the Mumbai Indians star smashed a whirlwind 158' off just 55 deliveries in the DY Patil T20 Cup. Pandya, who will be a vital cog-in-the-wheel for the defending VIVO IPL champions, helped Reliance 1 seal a place in the final following a thumping 104-run win over BPCL.

Pandya's score, which incidentally is also the highest score by an Indian batsman in T20s, was laced with staggering 20 sixes and six fours in his innings. With this knock, the MI allrounder, who also pocketed a wicket from the one over that he bowled in the match on Friday, has now pressed his case for India selection ahead of the ODI series against South Africa.

Pandya's thunderous knock comes days after he slammed a 39-ball 105 against CAG in the final group stage match of the tournament. In his first match, he scored 38 off 25 balls against Bank of Baroda in the group stage of the tournament.

With his recent surge in form, Mumbai Indians fans will surely be pumped up to watch Pandya decimate opposition bowling attacks come the IPL 2020.

It sure has been a tough ride for Pandya, who successfully recovered from a back surgery in October 2019 but he's put all of that behind now with a string of excellent knocks. Witnessing such kind of a performance will excite Mumbai Indians fans. Can we expect the same in the upcoming VIVO IPL 13?

Mumbai Indians will open their VIVO IPL 2020 campaign against Chennai Super Kings at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai in the season opener on March 29. Catch all the action LIVE and exclusively on the Star Sports network and Hotstar.

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