{"id":644266,"date":"2025-12-20T13:03:16","date_gmt":"2025-12-20T13:03:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/644266\/"},"modified":"2025-12-20T13:03:16","modified_gmt":"2025-12-20T13:03:16","slug":"operating-at-another-level-mentally-dale-steyn-in-awe-of-hardik-pandyas-dominance-cricket-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/644266\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Operating at another level mentally’: Dale Steyn in awe of Hardik Pandya\u2019s dominance | Cricket News"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"'Operating South African pace legend Dale Steyn<\/a> heaped rich praise on Hardik Pandya<\/a> after the India all-rounder\u2019s explosive display in the fifth T20I, calling him a player who operates on a different mental plane and carries an unmatched presence on the field. Pandya smashed a 63 that included India\u2019s second fastest T20I fifty, while Tilak Varma\u2019s composed 73 laid the foundation for a dominant showing. India finished with a daunting total of 232, which proved far too much for South Africa as the hosts sealed a 30-run win on Friday. <\/p>\n

Shashi Tharoor vs Rajeev Shukla breaks out on India match in Lucknow<\/p>\n

Speaking on JioStar, Steyn likened Pandya\u2019s on-field persona to that of a larger-than-life character. He said Pandya has moved beyond being just a sportsman and now walks out with the confidence and authority of a superhero, someone who dictates terms and refuses to bend. Steyn felt this was not arrogance but sheer dominance, reflected in Pandya\u2019s body language, stance, and ability to stay mentally untouchable in a game where mindset often decides outcomes. According to Steyn, while many players possess skill, Pandya has taken things to another level. Steyn also criticised South Africa\u2019s batting approach during the chase, particularly their decision to play cautiously against Jasprit Bumrah<\/a> and Varun Chakaravarthy. He felt the plan to simply survive Bumrah\u2019s spell and target other bowlers worked against them. Steyn pointed out that Bumrah\u2019s impact goes beyond his own wickets. He said South Africa allowed Bumrah to bowl without enough pressure, and once he dismissed Quinton de Kock, the momentum swung sharply. That moment, according to Steyn, opened the door for further damage, including the fall of Hardik\u2019s wicket and Chakaravarthy finding his rhythm. He stressed that when chasing targets in the 230 to 240 range, teams cannot afford to wait and hope. Attacking elite bowlers, even at risk, is necessary because they will get breakthroughs regardless. On Varun Chakaravarthy, Steyn admitted that the mystery spinner holds a clear advantage over South Africa\u2019s middle order. He said several batters struggle to read Chakaravarthy\u2019s variations, with Aiden Markram being the only one who picks him reasonably well, though even he often gets out while trying to attack. Others, like Ferreira, were described as completely unsettled by Chakaravarthy\u2019s subtle changes in pace and spin. Steyn concluded by noting that Chakaravarthy\u2019s control has even forced Markram into a more cautious approach, something he believes is the worst possible mindset for a batter facing the Indian spinner.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"South African pace legend Dale Steyn heaped rich praise on Hardik Pandya after the India all-rounder\u2019s explosive display…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":644267,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4101],"tags":[1406,197834,14275,197833,11539,197835,197838,39617,79,197837,197836,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-644266","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cricket","8":"tag-cricket","9":"tag-dale-steyn-praise-hardik-pandya","10":"tag-hardik-pandya","11":"tag-hardik-pandya-t20i-performance","12":"tag-jasprit-bumrah","13":"tag-jasprit-bumrah-impact","14":"tag-pandya","15":"tag-quinton-de-kock","16":"tag-sports","17":"tag-steyn","18":"tag-tilak-varma-innings","19":"tag-uk","20":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115752037953805301","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/644266","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=644266"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/644266\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/644267"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=644266"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=644266"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=644266"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}