CAPE TOWN: "Can it get better than this," exclaimed Hardik Pandya over the phone back in Nov 2016, after hearing that the national selection committee had picked him for the first two Tests against England.Pandya was on Cloud Nine. Just like many who can't believe the rise and rise of this cricketer from Choryasi, a village near Surat in Gujarat, Pandya himself has taken time to comprehend his own success. "I like taking challenges head on," Pandya had said back then.From that day on, Pandya hasn't time to look back. That India went from 81-6 when Pandya arrived at the scene to 199-8 by the time he left shows the kind of face-saving act he pulled off for India.It wasn't a chanceless knock. Quinton de Kock missed out on a stumping when Pandya just about started his innings.

Source: Times of India January 07, 2018 03:00 UTC