Twitter Erupts As Hardik Pandya Silences His Critics With the Ball

Hardik Pandya stole the limelight with his maiden five-wicket haul as India made a strong comeback in the series by taking complete control of the third cricket Test against England in Nottingham on Sunday.

Pandya registered career-best figures of 5 for 28 to help India bundle out England for 161 in their first innings.

The moment of the day's play was when Hardik Pandya picked his 5th wicket, completing a maiden 5-for in test cricket & the senior pro, Ishant Sharma fetched the ball, handed it over to him & reminded him to show it to the crowd & teammates to acknowledge their cheers.#EngvInd pic.twitter.com/pMHa4CPouf

— The Zucker Doctor (@DoctorLFC) August 19, 2018

Pandya's lethal five-over opening spell made the difference as he sent the English line-up reeling in a space of 28 balls.

Coming on to bat after lunch, the hosts crossed 50 in the 10th over, after which the downfall began.

Pandya's 28-ball effort was the second-quickest five-wicket haul for India in Test cricket after Harbhajan Singh took a fiver off 27 balls against West Indies in 2006.

Here’s a look at what Twitter had to say about Hardik’s splendid outing with the ball at Trent Bridge in Nottingham:

10 wickets in the session. Fantastic from India. Hardik Pandya was the standout with that magnificent spell. Firmly in India ‘s control as of now.

— Mohammad Kaif (@MohammadKaif) August 19, 2018

Hardik Pandya Took 1st Wicket On First Ball, That Also Of Joe Root. Completed Maiden Five-for In Just 29 Balls. What A Brilliant Performance. Puts Team India In Winning Position. 👏🙏 #INDvENG #INDvsENG #ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/SMr4w7Vvb1

— Sir Ravindra Jadeja (@SirJadejaaaa) August 19, 2018

Hardik Pandya Spell:

W 2 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 1 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 4 W 4 4 0 W W 0 0 0 W 0

Five overs Five wickets!

— Broken Cricket (@BrokenCricket) August 19, 2018

Maiden fiver within five overs. England have made a Test all-rounder out of Hardik Pandya... #EngvInd

— Chetan Narula (@chetannarula) August 19, 2018

The five-wicket haul comes after Hardik Pandya was heavily criticised for his poor performance both with the bat as well as with ball in the first two Tests against England. But with this spell of 5/28 it looks like Pandya has answered his critics well.

Hardik Pandya is first fast bowler from India to take a 5-wicket haul in Tests after coming to bowl as third change or later. #EngvInd

— Mazher Arshad (@MazherArshad) August 19, 2018

Michael Holding: "Hardik Pandya is not an all-rounder."
Pandya gets fired up and takes 5 wickets.
Someone please tell Michael Holding to say: "Hardik Pandya can't score a triple century in the 2nd innings."#ENGvIND

— Sorabh Pant (@hankypanty) August 19, 2018

As if some kind of divine punishment, Michael Holding is being made to sit through and shower praises at this breathtaking spell of bowling by Hardik Pandya, the guy Holding dismissed as an IPL show pony.

— Gabbbar (@GabbbarSingh) August 19, 2018

When you can't believe Hardik Pandya Performance Today #INDvENG #ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/cTWFAuv1R5

— Avishkar Goel (@its_avigoyal) August 19, 2018

#HardikPandya After Taking 5 Wickets Haul.!!#ENGvsIND #INDvENG pic.twitter.com/M3pYpL2ctW

— Paltu Panda🐼 (@VinamraSinha1) August 19, 2018

For more news and updates from India's tour of England, click here.