Hardik Pandya becomes the first Indian to attain a rare T20I achievement

Hardik Pandya achieved the remarkable double of scoring 500 runs and taking 50 wickets during the third Twenty20 International that India played against the West Indies at St. Kitts.

Hardik Pandya became the sixth Indian to reach 50 T20I wickets when he dismissed Brandon King during a fifty-run opening partnership with Kyle Mayers.

In their first 20 overs, the hosts have made 164/5. Once again, West Indies’ opening pair was outstanding. Both openers scored 58 runs in 7.2 overs and were on track for a large total. However, Hardik Pandya broke the partnership. He got rid of Brandon King, who scored a fast fifty in the second game, for 20 runs. Hardik has set a special T20I record with this wicket.

Hardik Pandya became the 11th player in men’s cricket and the 30th overall to record the double of 500 runs and 50 wickets in T20Is. With Brandon’s wicket, Pandya became only the sixth Indian bowler to reach 50 T20I wickets. And is now tied with Ravindra Jadeja for the most T20I wickets with 50. Although Jadeja made his T20I debut in 2009 and Pandya in 2016 which is astounding.

Yuzvendra Chahal has the most T20I wickets with 79, followed by Bhuvneshwar Kumar with 73 and Jasprit Bumrah with 69. In the 57 innings Hardik has bowled in, he has grabbed 50 T20I wickets. The Indian all-rounder has a bowling average of 27.59  and has an economy of 8.35.

He's only the second Indian to the milestone 👌#WIvINDhttps://t.co/fsW2OM6x0L

— ICC (@ICC) August 2, 2022

Deepti Sharma is the only Indian player to have broken this record. She has 521 runs to her name and 65 T20I wickets. Pandya’s finest T20I bowling performance was 4/33 against England in Southampton, when he also made a half-century, becoming the first Indian to capture a four-wicket haul and make a fifty in the same T20I match.

Only a few months ago, Pandya was on a hiatus to improve on his health, namely his bowling fitness and back injury troubles, and this all seemed far beyond and nearly unfathomable. First, he led the Gujarat Titans to the IPL 2022 championship, and then he rejoined the Indian squad and has done very well with the bat and the ball since his comeback.

On Tuesday in St. Kitts, Pandya bowled a magnificent session of 4-0-19-1 to restrain the West Indies. The West Indies openers set up a half-century stand before he handed India the breakthrough.