Krunal Pandya and Hardik Pandya
Krunal Pandya, who smashed the fastest fifty by an ODI debutant during the first match against England, broke down after his record-breaking knock while speaking to the broadcasters at the end of India's innings on Tuesday.
Krunal smashed a 26-ball fifty and stitched a century stand with KL Rahul for the sixth wicket as India ended their innings at 317 for five in 50 overs.
The Baroda all-rounder dedicated his innings to his father, who died due to cardiac arrest in January 2021. Krunal, however, was unable to continue the conversation as he struggled to hold back his tears.
"His father would be super proud of his achievement. Krunal was very emotional when he was getting the cap. Hardik presented the cap to Krunal. That was an excellent gesture from Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri to allow Krunal's brother to give him that cap," VVS Laxman said on Star Sports.
"At one stage, it looked like England would restrict India to 280 but the unbeaten partnership allowed India to get those extra runs. Krunal just eased it for KL Rahul," said legendary Sunil Gavaskar.
With the Krunal-Rahul duo in the middle, India reached 250 at the end of the 45th over and then gathered 67 more in the last five overs.
Krunal finished on 58* off 31 balls while Rahul scored unbeaten 62. Earlier, opener Shikhar Dhawan laid the platform for a big total with his 98 off 106 balls.
