MS DHONI OR KIERON POLLARD- WHO IS HARDIK PANDYA'S INSPIRATION AFTER TEAM INDIA'S T20I SERIES WIN; ALL- ROUNDER REVEALS! 

After India defeated Australia by six wickets in the second and penultimate T20I, all-rounder Hardik Pandya made headlines and stole the show with his amazing shots.

During the match, Hardik Pandya's show down at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Sunday (December 6) brought a big smile and hope on fans faces. Pandya played a terrific knock of 42 of 22 balls; his two magnificent sixes in the last over of the game sent everyone by surprise.   

Talking about the match, Matthew Wade-led Australia to bat first during which Team India leaked runs at will as Deepak Chahar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Shardul Thakur and Washington Sundar were expensive and only T Natarajan returned with impressive figures, 2 for 20, as Australia posted 194-5.

Meanwhile, KL Rahul scored (30), Shikhar Dhawan (52) and captain Virat Kohli made (40) that gave the platform to the visitors but they still required 37 off the last three overs with youngsters Shreyas Iyer and Hardik Pandya in the middle. It was only Hardik, who ended the match in style! 

During the post-match press conference, Hardik spoke on his finishing skills. After playing alongside former Indian captain MS Dhoni and West Indies all-rounder Kieron Pollard for the Mumbai Indians (MI), Hardik named his inspiration.

"Pollard has done it many times for his country and franchise, for me, the inspiration will always be him, I have been lucky to see some of his knocks in the past. We have all played cricket in the IPL, in franchise cricket we need to step it up as it is a professional sport, in international cricket, the love for cricket comes and you do feel pressure in international cricket. People have carried the confidence from IPL, I was batting well in the IPL and during the lockdown, I planned on how to finish the matches," Hardik Pandya said during the post-match press conference.

"I have batted in this manner in the past as well, it is just that my performances are getting highlighted now, we have always been top-heavy and the top three score runs most of the time, I think this is the first time where we have got the opportunity to step it up and do it, I think I am in a very good zone and I am not getting overwhelmed with the situation, it is my job to finish the matches and I did it well tonight. I am not getting too excited about things," Pandya further opined.

So far in the series, Hardik has been Team India's knight in shining armour where he has been the man in crisis. In five outings so far, including the ODIs, Hardik has made scores like, 90, 28, 92*, 16 and 42*.