India Vs England, T20 World Cup 2026: Hardik Pandya Scalps First-Over Wicket Again, Dismisses Phil Salt In Semi-Final

Hardik Pandya has evolved into one of the reliable powerplay bowlers of Team India and he showed it once again by scalping a wicket in the powerplay of the India vs England, ICC T20 World Cup 2026 second semi-final at the Wankhede Stadium on Thursday (March 05).

Since the Asia Cup 2025, India has either played an additional batter or an additional spinner in their playing XI. It is either Kuldeep Yadav or Arshdeep Singh who has played and as a result Hardik has been doing the job of the second or the third seamer along with Jasprit Bumrah and occasionally Arshdeep Singh.

Hardik has taken the new ball often, bowling in the powerplay. He has also developed new skills to be economic and also go for wickets. Previosuly, Hardik used to bowl into the wicket, relying more on bouncers and hard length. After starting to bowl in the powerplay, Hardik has also developed an outswing and change of pace deliveries to fox the batters.

Due to his newly developed new ball skills, Hardik has been troubling batters in his first overs, often taking a wicket. In the 2026 T20 World Cup, Hardik Pandya has taken a wicket in his very first over of a match on two occasions so far.

Hardik dismissed Sahibzada Farhan in a crucial clash against Pakistan in the group stages. His short of length ball on off-side was pulled by Farhan, but it only got a top edge and the ball landed straight in the hands of mid-on.

Hardik Pandya Strikes In His First Over Again

Hardik struck yet again in his first over in the ICC T20 World Cup 2026 semi-final against England. He dismissed dangerman Phil Salt in his first over in the powerplay and gave India a big breakthrough as England looked to chase down a massive 253/7 set by India.

His fullish ball, pitched up and swung away from Salt, who just threw his hands at the ball and it just skied up. The cover fielder settled under it to take an easy catch.