India, Dec. 9 -- This night didn't belong to Shubman Gill or Suryakumar Yadav, nor was it for Abhishek Sharma even though he did take two good catches at slip. Arshdeep Singh came close with his impeccable lengths, getting two wickets in his first two overs.

Hello Hardik Pandya, good to have you back.

That 42-ball 77 for Baroda last week set up some anticipation alright. And Pandya proved that it was no fluke by blazing his way to an unbeaten 28-ball 59 that propelled India to 175/6 in the first T20I against South Africa at Cuttack on Tuesday. To back that up with a first ball wobble-seam dismissal of David Miller was just the kind of stuff you sign up for when the Pandya show is on.

The umpire wasn't sure, though Miller looking back a...