India beat England in the 1st ODI today by 66 runs.
The match was very special for two of our debutant cricketers – Krunal Pandya and Prasidh Krishna. While Krishna became the first Indian bowler to pick up more than 3 wickets on his ODI debut, Krunal’s 50 off 26 balls was the fastest by a debutant in the history of ODI cricket.
Krunal Pandya couldn’t control his emotions and broke down soon after his quick half-century.
He smashed 58 off 31 balls. While talking to the commentator and former Indian cricketer Murali Kartik, Krunal could just say:
This one is for my dad. It was very emotional.
Later his younger brother Hardik Pandya went up to him and hugged him tight.
Krunal and Hardik lost their father this year in January. Krunal, who had been leading the Baroda team in the Syed Mushtaq Trophy, had left the tournament mid-way to return home at the time.
What a great performance!