Cuttack, Dec. 9 -- India's total of 175 for six on Tuesday evening at the Barabati Stadium looked far more imposing than it once threatened to be, and that transformation owed itself almost entirely to one man.
For nearly 12 overs, the innings had meandered uncertainly, weighed down by early wickets and hesitant shot-making.
The South African pace trio of Lungi Ngidi, Marco Jansen and Anrich Nortje had probed the deck hard enough to keep India tethered to a modest trajectory. Then Hardik Pandya walked in, and the mood, the tempo and the complexion of everything that followed changed as if the floodlights themselves had shifted hue.
What Hardik produced over the next 45 minutes wasn't merely a counterattack; it was a reassertion of identi...