He has announced himself as cricket's next global superstar, but it is Hardik Pandya's wonder bat that has fellow players talking after his T20 heroics against Australia.<\/p>\n
Pandya once again cemented his status as one of the game's most devastating finishers, after his unbeaten 42 off 22 deliveries guided India home in the second T20.<\/p>\n
The 27-year-old's innings actually started slowly, but after he called for a bat swap, he lashed 23 off the final seven deliveries of his innings, including two sixes off the final over.<\/p>\n
Sunday's clash was not the first time Pandya had brought out the big bat, with his weapon also deployed in the unbeaten 150-run stand with Ravindra Jadeja in the third ODI that ultimately won the game for India.<\/p>\n
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Following the match, Pandya dispelled theories that he had a designated hard-hitting bat, revealing that he had broken his favourite bat in his innings of 90 in the first ODI.<\/p>\n
"I am trying to figure out my bats now," he told Fox Cricket after the win.<\/p>\n
"My match bat got broken in the first ODI which I was playing for the last three years, so the whole series, all these five games, I have been trying to figure out which bat I should bat with.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately for Australian cricket fans, Tuesday's third T20 will be the last time they get to see the star all-rounder in action this summer, with Pandya not in the Test squad.<\/p>\n
https:\/\/twitter.com\/Uz_Khawaja\/status\/1335551667949867008<\/a>https:\/\/twitter.com\/calferguson12\/status\/1335552806019731458<\/a><\/p>\n With Pandya hitting his prime years, former England captain Michael Vaughan said he was well on track to become one of the game's biggest stars.<\/p>\n "He has to look at the next three years," Vaughan told Cricbuzz<\/em>.<\/p>\n "With the next T20 world cup being in India, obviously the IPL being in India, the next 50-over World Cup is in India in 2023, Hardik Pandya has got a great opportunity to become the next global superstar.<\/p>\n "MS Dhoni, he had that mantle for many years. Virat Kohli has it now. It's generally the Indian players that get put onto that pedestal and I think Hardik's got a chance to be the next superstar."<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"