Villian in IPL, hero in T20 World Cup: Hardik Pandya in tears as he defends crucial runs in final over

What a nail-biting finish! India needed 16 off the last 6 balls after Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, and Arshdeep Singh pulled the game back in their favour. And oh boy, what a game-changing over Hardik Pandya bowled in the final over! The all-rounder gave India a 7-run victory, ending their 17-year wait.

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Soon after the final ball was delivered, emotions ran high as all the Indian players were seen on the ground, crying, laughing, and overwhelmed with emotion. However, what grabbed everyone's attention was Hardik Pandya in tears. Despite being trolled incessantly during the Indian Premier League (IPL), both personally and professionally, he delivered arguably the World Cup-winning moment for India.

In the final over, Hardik got a wicket with his first ball, dismissing David Miller — the turning point of the game. His next ball was hit for a four by Kagiso Rabada - the new man in - while the third and fourth balls yielded 1 run each. The 5th ball was wide, but Pandya did not lose his focus as he took another wicket on the very next ball, sending Rabada back. Finally, the 6th ball ended India's 11-year trophy drought.

When asked what he felt, he said, "It means a lot. Very emotional, we’ve been working very hard and something was not clicking. But today we got what the whole nation wanted. More special for me, how my last 6 months were, I haven’t spoken a word. I knew that if I kept working hard I could shine and do what I could do. Getting an opportunity like this makes it more special".

Teams:

South Africa (Playing XI): Quinton de Kock(w), Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markram(c), Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Tabraiz Shamsi

India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma(c), Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant(w), Suryakumar Yadav, Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah

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