Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya is renowned for his brisk seam bowling and explosive batting, as he can tonk sixes off the very first delivery. But his struggle to be one of the most effective cricketers that India has ever had began quite humbly. He first burst into the headlines in domestic cricket while playing for Baroda, but it was his surprising unbeaten 61 off 31 balls for MI in IPL 2015 that brought him into the national limelight. That was the beginning of his association with MI, the franchise for which he went on to win four titles. By the end of the 2022 T20 World Cup, Pandya had developed into one of India’s pivotal leaders and an outright frontrunner to be a future captain. This comes after he led Gujarat Titans to a maiden IPL title in their inaugural season in 2022, proving his leadership qualities. Pandya debuted in 2016, after being picked for the limited-overs tour of Australia, before his seam bowling helped him impress in the Asia Cup on the seamer-friendly pitches of Bangladesh. After a serious back injury sustained in 2018 that kept him from bowling regularly for some time, Pandya fought his way back to being a senior member of the national setup in the 2020s. Since then, he has worked his way up the ranks to become one of India’s leading all-rounders across formats with 532 runs and 17 wickets in Tests, 1904 runs and 91 wickets in ODIs, and 1860 runs and 98 wickets in T20Is. Also Read | Kuldeep Yadav Ruled Out of Remaining T20Is, BCCI Reveals Reason The 2016 T20 World Cup Thriller That Defined Hardik Pandya’s Career However, the match that really proved to be the turning point in the career of Pandya in internationals was during the 2016 ICC T20 World Cup clash between India and Bangladesh at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru. India had set a modest target of 147, and Bangladesh seemed all set for victory, needing 11 runs off the final over with Pandya given the ball. Bangladesh needed just two runs from three balls in the over after conceding two boundaries. Pandya replied to that by sending back Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah off successive deliveries and then held his nerves on the final ball as India pulled off a thrilling one-run win. That extraordinary final over not only kept India alive in the tournament but also announced Pandya as a star in the making and a fearless cricketer who thrives under pressure. From that night in Bengaluru, there was no looking back for the Baroda all-rounder.