Arjit Kumar - Tuesday, Dec 09, 2025IND vs SA 1st T20I Records: Indian cricket team's star all-rounder Hardik Pandya has made a spectacular comeback to international cricket. Pandya, who returned from injury after nearly two and a half months, not only anchored the Indian innings in the first T20I against South Africa in Cuttack, but also set a unique record.
Fans were eagerly awaiting the return of Hardik Pandya, who was injured before the Asia Cup 2025 final. The Indian team did not have a good start in the first T20I against South Africa. Openers Abhishek Sharma and captain Suryakumar Yadav returned early, causing the innings to falter.
In this time of crisis, Pandya stabilized the Indian innings as soon as he came to the crease. He played his signature shots in the final overs, scoring runs quickly and playing a key role in taking the team's score to a challenging 175.
In this match, Hardik Pandya scored the sixth half-century of his T20 International career. But during this time, he also achieved another major milestone—hitting his 100 sixes in T20 Internationals.
During his stormy innings, Pandya faced 28 balls, which included six fours and four towering sixes.
With this 'Century of Sixes', Hardik Pandya has now reached the fourth position on the list of players who have hit the most sixes in T20 Internationals for India. Only three legendary batsmen are ahead of him:
KL Rahul is also close to reaching 100 sixes in this list.
After losing the toss and opting to bat first, Team India suffered their first blow in the form of Shubman Gill (4 runs) in the very first over. Abhishek Sharma (17) and Suryakumar Yadav (12) also departed cheaply. Tilak Varma (26) and Axar Patel (23) steadied the innings in the middle order, before Hardik Pandya played the finishing role to take the team to a respectable total.
