Gujarat Titans captain Hardik Pandya has been the man in form for his side and the leading run-scorer for the team this season. But while the Titans went on to post their 7th win of the season and almost book their playoffs berth after defeating Sunrisers Hyderabad on Wednesday (April 27), Hardik got a nasty blow from pace sensation Umran Malik in the match.


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Umran registered his first five-wicket haul in IPL, claiming 5/25 in 4 overs including the wicket of Hardik for 10 (off 6 balls). In the 8th over of the match, when skipper Hardik had just walked into bat, Umran rattled him with an express delivery which missed the all-rounder’s bat and hit him on his hand around the shoulder.


Hardik immediately started wringing the hand in obvious pain but when the physio was rushing on to the field to treat him, the GT captain asked him to stay away. Hardik’s wife and Serbian dancer Natasa Stankovic was watching all of this unfold from the stand with concern for her husband.


Watch Natasa Stankovic’s reaction when Hardik Pandya gets hit by a Umran Malik delivery…



Meanwhile, GT managed to post a thrilling five-wicket win and returned to the top of the IPL 2022 Points Table thanks to efforts of Rahul Tewatia (40 off 21 balls) and Rashid Khan (31 off 11 balls).


In a lighter vein, the GT skipper said that he keeps telling his players that ‘God is helping’ them out. “I keep joking in the dressing room that God is telling us ‘You guys are good, I’ll help you’. It’s happening so often that I fear we may run out of luck in the knockout games.”


Pandya thanked the team’s support staff for the performance in its maiden season in IPL. “A lot of credit goes to support staff, the kind of environment we have kept. A lot of people get a lot of freedom. It’s very chilled out. There’s not much pressure given to the players. A lot of pressure is taken on by the leadership group. Everyone is stepping up and doing justice to what they represent.”


Asked about his bowling fitness, he said, “It’s just a conscious decision to manage my bowling, plan is to bowl whenever the team needs me. It's a long tournament and I don't want to get too excited early. Same with Rahul (Tewatia) as well. He's ready whenever the ball is given to him.”


(with PTI inputs)