Delhi Capitals take a funny dig at Hardik Pandya after Ben Stokes’ dismissal

The two cricketing superpowers India and England are putting a thrilling show in the ongoing last of the three-match ODI series at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune. Put to bat first, India managed to post a mammoth score of 329 runs on the board on the back of scintillating knocks by Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya as they slammed 78 off 62 and 64 off 44 respectively.

The first half of the third One Day International saw Hardik Pandya emerging as the ‘hero’ for the team with the fans hailing the all-rounder for his valuable knock with the willow. But the initial overs of India’s bowling innings resulted in Pandya becoming the villain and being subjected to massive troll on social media.

England had a torrid start to their innings as they lost both their opening batsmen Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow to Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Bhuvi was all set to include another priced wicket under his belt in the fifth over only as the explosive all-rounder Ben Stokes hit one in the air to Kumar and the ball traveled only till mid-off. Hardik had comfortably reached under the ball but did a blunder by dropping an absolute sitter.

Dropping Stokes could have cost India the game as he was in exemplary form in the second ODI and had hammered the ball like anything all over the ground. However, much to the relief of the Indian all-rounder, Ben lost his wicket to T Natarajan in the 11th over as Shikhar Dhawan easily completed the catch to send the batsman back to the pavilion while he was playing at 35 off 39.

DC takes a sly dig at Hardik Pandya

Hardik’s reaction to the dismissal of Stokes was priceless as the all-rounder could finally heave a sigh of relief. The 27-year-old literally bowed down to Dhawan for holding on to the catch along with thanking God for the prized wicket. The clip showcasing Hardik’s reaction to the dismissal quickly went viral on social media.

IPL franchise Delhi Capitals (DC) were quick to react to the entire incident as they came up with a quirky tweet on their official Twitter handle. Dhawan plays for Delhi in the T20 Championship, thus DC trolled the MI player by posting a meme featuring Shikhar along with the caption, “You’re welcome, Hardik Pandya #INDvENG,”

You're welcome, Hardik Pandya.#INDvENG pic.twitter.com/kNd59bJR92

— Delhi Capitals (@DelhiCapitals) March 28, 2021