Antigua's battlefield sets the stage for Hardik Pandya's remontada

Just a shrug of the shoulders followed by a quick salute to the Indian dugout, Hardik Pandya didn't show a lot of emotions as he walked back to the pavilion after hitting a sparkling half-century off just 27 balls against Bangladesh in their T20 World Cup Super Eight encounter.

While the celebrations were subdued, deep down, the all-rounder would have heaved a massive sigh of relief for delivering a crucial knock with the bat after a long time. He didn't have the easiest of times in the IPL, but Hardik was never a quitter and his thought process was clear coming into the T20 World Cup.

"Eventually, I believe, you have to stay in the battle. Sometimes life puts you in situations where things are tough, but I believe that if you leave the game or the field, the battle that is, you won't get what you want from your sport, or the results you are looking for," said Hardik on Star Sports.

Hardik Pandya had stressed the importance of being process-driven, which was reflected in how he went about his business in Antigua. A tricky situation awaited India's vice-captain as he strode to the middle with his willow, but by the time he walked off, he had once again shown why he was invaluable to the Indian side.

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A confident Hardik Pandya is a different player altogether

Team India have stayed true to their commitment to playing an aggressive brand of cricket. They have also deservedly received plaudits for the same from fans and former cricketers like Wasim Jaffer. While captain Rohit Sharma accepted that the idea was to put pressure on the opposition, he also shed light on the different roles that the the batters had been given after the Bangladesh win.

Having been handed the finisher's role, Hardik Pandya walked out to bat in the 12th over. The ultra-aggressive brand's downside was seeing set players perish in an attempt to shift gears. Hardik realized the importance of stringing a partnership, taking seven singles from the first eight balls he faced.

Once set, Hardik didn't miss out on the deliveries bowled in his arc, especially by the Bangladesh spinners. A back-to-back six and a four off Mahedi Hasan got the ball rolling for the Men in Blue in the backend of their innings. The momentum injected by Pandya also helped Shivam Dube express himself and break the shackles after a troubled start.

The calmness with which the ace all-rounder handled the situation and the swagger with which he deposited the ball in the stands showed shades of his vintage best.

Surely, Hardik's solid bowling has also boosted his confidence with the bat. In five matches in the T20 World Cup, he has picked up eight wickets at an economy rate of just 6.47. He hasn't looked back since his fine bowling performance against Ireland and the timely strikes against Pakistan. As long as Hardik Pandya is confident, India have one fewer issue to worry about.

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Has Hardik Pandya worked on his pace-hitting?

Hardik Pandya's decline in pace-hitting was apparent following a brief period in 2021 where he had stopped bowling to manage the workload. He had his moments of magic against pace like in the T20 World Cup 2022 semifinal, where he smashed England's bowlers, but the consistency was missing.

Even in IPL 2024, Hardik scored 117 runs in 91 balls against pacers - a strike rate of just 128.57. In 13 innings, he was dismissed by pace 10 times. If those numbers are further filtered to the finisher's role, Hardik scored just 32 runs in 23 balls at a strike rate of 139.13 with one four and three sixes.

These numbers were certainly worrying coming into the T20 World Cup. However, against Bangladesh, Hardik scored 25 runs each against spin and pace. He also maintained a strike rate of 166.67 against the pacers, the biggest takeaway for India from the game in terms of match-ups.

Is it just the confidence from bowling? Or did Hardik Pandya tweak something in his technique? Although it may be subconscious, the all-rounder did seem to make some changes in his stance and his guard depending upon match situations.

Using the breeze to one's favor was a crucial factor in Antigua and Hardik Pandya did that very well when he hit Mahedi through the off-side. He also changed his guard from middle to off against the spinners in the death to access to both sides of the wicket. The spinners tried to bowl away from his arc to make him hit into the breeze but Pandya was always a step ahead.

While Hardik's spin game has always been good, let's take a deep dive into how he changed his guard and stance to facilitate pace-hitting. Just like for the spinners, Hardik also had a middle-stump guard for the pacers with a more orthodox stance. However, he changed his guard to off-stump in the slog overs to hit Mustafizur Rahman towards the leg side with the breeze.

Hardik with middle-stump guard when new at the crease (L) vs Hardik with off-stump guard with a more opened-up stance (P.C.:Hotstar/ICC)

Mustafizur then came around the wicket to deny Hardik's access towards the cow corner and tried to bowl away from his arc outside off stump. But Pandya had an answer to that as well.

Below is an image where to the left, one can see Hardik Pandya with a more closed stance even during the death overs during the game against the Mumbai Indians and the Gujarat Titans.

On the right, Hardik is seen opening up his stance even further, so much so that his back leg is well outside off-stump, thereby widening his range and reach. Thet helped him bag a couple of boundaries in the final over against the left-arm pacer.

Hardik's stance in death overs in the game against GT (L) vs Hardik's stance in the death overs against Bangladesh (P.C.: Jio Cinema/Hotstar/ICC)

Another crucial aspect of power-hitting is having a stable base. Hardik's mentality when he was fresh on the crease against the pacers versus in the death overs was reflected in his trigger movement.

He was shuffling towards the off-stump at the start of his innings against both Tanzim Hasan Sakib and Mustafizur. However, he then shifted to a stable base at the backend, thereby shifting his focus from singles and doubles to boundaries.

The stable base helped him deposit a slower delivery from Tanzim against the breeze over cow corner and also get the boundary on the final delivery to bring up his half-century.

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Speaking to the host broadcaster after the game, Hardik Pandya recalled his injury against the same opposition during the 2023 ODI World Cup that kept him out of the game for a long time and perhaps had him rusty for the IPL 2024 season. Hardik seems to have left that tough two-month period behind and is showing shades of being the world-class all-rounder that his potential promised.

Destiny finally smiling on Hardik Pandya would also please his fans who have rallied behind the all-rounder in tough times. In his own words, "It is okay to be unique," and unique he is with what he brings to the Indian team.