Hardik Pandya was promoted to No 5 in the T20 World Cup 2022 semifinal against England at the Adelaide Oval on Wednesday. India were 75/3 when an in-form Suryakumar Yadav was dismissed. Instead of sending Rishabh Pant in and ensuring a left and right-hand combination, the Men in Blue went with Pandya. 

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One user asked on Twitter,”  How can we not send Pant ahead of Pandya when two leg spinners are controlling the game. #T20WorldCup”

A second one tweeted,” Two leggies are running away with overs & the other Rahul sent Pandya instead of Pant”

A third user said,” Should’ve sent Pant before Pandya…would’ve created a left-right combo in the middle overs. Plus Pandya is a better finisher than Pant in T-20 cricket”

Check out the tweets below:

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The batting allrounder, however has helped steady the Indian innings with a 61-run partnership with Virat Kohli, who is playing on his favourite ground in Australia. 

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When Pandya came on the crease, India were on the backfoot as Adil Rashid had just dismissed World No. 1 T20I batter Suryakumar Yadav. India were at 75/3 after 11.2 overs. The allrounder started attacking England bowlers in the 15th over, in which spinner Liam Livingstone leaked 10 runs. Hardik Pandya hit a four in the second ball of the over, and Kohli finished with a four, bringing up the 100 for India. 

In the 17th over, Pandya welcomed Sam Curran with a huge six. He did the same with Jordan in the next over, hitting two sixes in the first two balls. In the 19th over, he hit Curran for two boundaries and a maximum, to bring up his maiden fifty of the tournament. He got out in the last ball due to hit wicket, but it was due to his six hitting ability, that India finished the 20th overs with 168/5.