Hardik Pandya bowled three overs for Reliance 1.

Hardik Pandya is back in action, finally. For the first time since his injury in the Wolrd Cup game on October 19, which rendered him hors de combat for almost four months, the India all-rounder was seen in action at the DY Patil T20 Cup 2024 on Monday. He captained Reliance 1 against BPCL and led his side to a close two-wicket victory. It is likely Ishan Kishan, who has virtually been incommunicado to the cricketing world, could also turn up in the match. He is named in the RBI squad that has entered the 16-team tournament.

Pandya both bowled and batted in the T20 game which started at 11 AM. In three overs of medium pace, he gave away 22 runs and claimed two wickets, showing that he is very much back to his full fitness. One of the wickets was a caught-bowled dismissal. In fact, he opened the bowling for Reliance 1.

Remarkably, Pandya also made a notable appearance at the batting crease, coming in at No. 10 position, and remained unbeaten, scoring three runs off four balls to help his team chase down the target of 126 runs in 15 overs, albeit losing eight wickets along the way. Among others, Mumbai Indians players like Nehal Wadhera and Tialk Verma besides Chawla were in the Reliance 1 line-up.

This marked Pandya's first competitive match since his unfortunate ankle injury during India's league match against Bangladesh in Pune last October, causing him to miss several white-ball series, including three home games against Afghanistan.

Recently, he was at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru and awaits clearance from the NCA. He is expected to be fully fit for the IPL in which he will lead Mumbai Indians.

In another intriguing development, there is a talk of Ishan Kishan's potential appearance for the RBI squad in a match on Tuesday. Despite his recent absence from cricketing activities, sources close to Ishan hint at his possible participation, adding an element of anticipation to the tournament. Ishan, who has been preparing for the IPL alongside the Pandya brothers in Bardoa - Hardik and Krunal -- has kept a low profile, even disregarding directives from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to represent his state, Jharkhand, in the Ranji Trophy.

The DY Patil T20 tournament goes on for close to two weeks. The final is on March 10.