New Delhi. The victory chariot of the Indian cricket team, which was running in T20 matches since the World Cup, came to a halt on 10 November. Host South Africa stopped India’s winning streak by defeating India in the second T20. This is India’s first defeat after 11 consecutive wins. There were many reasons for India’s defeat, but Hardik Pandya’s tuk-tuk batting was at number one among them. Hardik Pandya played so many dot balls in this match that many batsmen come close to a century.
Hardik Pandya scored 39 runs in 45 balls in the second T20 match against South Africa. Hardik, who came to bat after the end of the eighth over, remained unbeaten till the end. During this period, he hit less shots and the bowlers dodged him more. After losing the sixth wicket in the 15th over, Pandya’s game became beyond comprehension. He was not able to hit the shot himself and did not even want to allow the batsman at the other end, Arshdeep Singh, to come on strike. As a result, he rejected easy singles many times.
Hardik played 25 dot balls
Overall, when India’s innings ended, the team’s score was 124 runs for 6 wickets. There were 39 runs registered against Hardik’s name, which included 4 fours and 1 six. His strike rate was 86.44. Hardik played 25 dot balls in this innings. That means he did not score a single run in 25 balls. With this, he equaled Rohit Sharma in terms of playing the most number of dots in an innings. But this is just a dot ball match because Rohit batted brilliantly in that innings and also scored a century.
Rohit has also played 25 dot balls
Rohit Sharma played an inning of 106 runs in 66 balls against South Africa on 2 October 2025 in Dharamshala. In this he did not score a single run in 25 balls. Despite this, Rohit’s strike rate was 160.60 as he hit 12 fours and 5 sixes in this innings. However, despite Rohit’s innings, South Africa won the match by 7 wickets.
Indian record in the name of KL Rahul
The record of playing most 33 dot balls in an innings is in the name of KL Rahul. KL Rahul had scored 51 runs playing 56 balls against South Africa on 28 September 2022. During this period his strike rate was 91.07. Rahul had hit 2 fours and 4 sixes in this innings. India won this match by 8 wickets.
Kohli has played more than 25 dot balls
Virat Kohli and Dinesh Mongia have also played more than 25 dot balls once each. Virat Kohli played 28 dot balls against Pakistan on 27 February 2016. He had scored 49 runs in 51 balls. This innings of Kohli was the demand of that time. India had lost 3 wickets for 8 runs and did not have a big target in front of them. In such a situation, Kohli took charge of one end and led the team to victory. In this match, Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane and Hardik Pandya were out on 0. Suresh Raina returned after scoring one run. After Kohli, the second top scorer in India’s innings was Yuvraj Singh, who scored 14 runs in 32 balls.
India’s first T20 international match
Dinesh Mongia had played 27 dot balls against South Africa in Johannesburg in 2006. He scored 38 runs in 45 balls with the help of 4 fours and one six. This was India’s first T20 International match, which India won by 6 wickets. Dinesh Mongia was the top scorer of the team. Virender Sehwag scored 34 runs and Dinesh Karthik scored 31 runs. Sachin Tendulkar was out after scoring 10 runs, while MS Dhoni could not even open his account.
Tags: Hardik Pandya, India vs South Africa, KL Rahul, Number Game, Rohit Sharma
FIRST PUBLISHED: November 11, 2024, 12:44 IST