Among the biggest talking points that came from India's thumping win over Bangladesh in the first T20I was Hardik Pandya's stunningly nonchalant finish. The all-rounder smashed an unbeaten 39 in 16 balls, hitting the winning runs with two fours and a six off consecutive balls. Before that, he bowled his full quota of four overs, something he has consistently done since the start of the 2024 T20 World Cup, and recorded figures of 1/26.

Arshdeep Singh won the player of the match award for incredible figures of 3/14 but Pandya's finish ended up becoming a lasting image from the match. However, former India fast bowler RP Singh has said that this performance cannot be used as a measure of how good a touch Pandya is in as it was an underperforming Bangladesh.

“Bangladesh team ko leke kisi ka true form judge karna, mujhe lagta hai itna sahi soch nahi hai. (I think using a performance against Bangladesh to judge a player's form is not right). The way they are playing, it is not at the highest level at the moment,” Singh, an expert for Jio Cinema and Sports 18 for the series told the media on Tuesday.

“Hardik did well, he is capable of doing things like that. But using a performance against this team as a criterion in my opinion is not right. Do that maybe against a better team or in a better competition.”

'Good to see Hardik Pandya bowling four overs'

Pandya sent the third ball from Taskin Ahmed in the 12th over over the wicketkeeper with a nonchalant ramp. He slacked his bat down almost as soon as he made contact with the ball and then kept staring at the bowler as the flew to the boundary behind him. He then swung hard at the next ball towards the leg side. The ball ran off the boundary on the offside while his bat went in the direction that he wanted to hit. Pandya then finished the chase off with a six off the fifth ball of the over.

Singh said that Bangladesh didn't push India enough to judge whether Pandya had to push himself at any stage of his innings. “Kahi baar hota hai na ki haa ab toh match jeetna hi hai, kam runs banane hai toh aap free hote ho (There are times when you feel free because you know that the team is close to victory and there isn't too many runs left to score). Bangladesh did not create a situation where he had to make a match or finish it,” said Singh.

Singh said that what is good to see is Pandya bowling his full quota of overs. Injuries had put a question mark earlier this year on whether the 30-year-old can play as an all-rounder in the 2024 T20 World Cup. Pandya's batting and bowling ended up playing a central role in India's title triumph and he seems to have simply picked up from where he left off since.

“What is good to see is that Hardik Pandya is bowling four overs. There was always a question as to whether he can bowl his full quota or not but he is doing that well now. His batting was always good, where he has improved is in his bowling and fitness. Performance solely Bangladesh team ko dekh ke mujhe nahi lagta hume excited hone chahiye. There are a lot of real tests still to come,” said Singh.

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