Ace all-rounder Hardik Pandya returned to competitive cricket with a half-century that helped India reach 175/6 in the first T20I against South Africa on Tuesday. Playing his first match after 74 days, Pandya came back following a left quadricep injury that had ruled him out of the Asia Cup. He walked in at No. 6 and changed the pace of the innings. India lost six wickets across the powerplay and middle overs. Pandya, who had shown his fitness earlier by scoring an unbeaten 77 off 42 balls for Baroda in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, took on the South African bowlers and finished on 59 not out off 28 balls. This was his sixth fifty in T20 internationals. Pandya began by hitting two sixes off Keshav Maharaj after Tilak Varma was dismissed for 26. He then scored 17 runs in an

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