India, Dec. 20 -- Hardik Pandya had absolutely no knowledge that he had smashed the record for India's second-fastest half-century during his maniacal knock of 63 in just 25 balls against South Africa in the series-defining final match of the T20I series at Ahmedabad's Narendra Modi Stadium on Friday. Hardik took 16 balls, narrowly missing Yuvraj Singh's record for the fastest Indian fifty ever by just four balls, which he had famously achieved during the 2007 T20 World Cup quarterfinal against England at Johannesburg.

However, had Hardik been aware of it, he would have loved to go after Yuvraj's record. Hardik's blazing innings, which saw him strike five fours and five sixes, including a bullet first-ball maximum that struck a cameraman...