Watch: Hardik Pandya pays tribute to MS Dhoni with 'helicopter shot' in the nets

What's the story?

Team India and Mumbai Indians all-rounder Hardik Pandya recently tweeted a video of himself practicing MS Dhoni's famous 'helicopter shot' at the Wankhede Stadium.

The background

An indispensable member of the Indian Cricket Team across formats, Pandya was dropped from the Indian ODI squad against Australia back in January for his controversial statements on a reality TV show. After serving a suspension due to this incident, he came back stronger and performed well against New Zealand in the five-match ODI series which the visitors won 4-1.

While he was expected to continue his good run against Australia at home, he was ruled out of both the T20I and ODI series due to a lower back injury. A perfect all-rounder, the 25-year-old from Baroda is someone who can contribute heavily with the willow down the order as well as provide major breakthroughs with the ball.

The heart of the matter

Now fully fit, Pandya linked up with the Mumbai Indians for a pre-season camp on Tuesday (March 12) and was seen practicing in full swing at the nets. Pandya tweeted a video of himself performing Mahendra Singh Dhoni's 'helicopter shot' with a caption that read: "Guess my inspiration behind this shot?".

Here is the video posted by Pandya on Twitter:

Guess my inspiration behind this shot? 🚁 😍 pic.twitter.com/9mwQ6uNg3g

— hardik pandya (@hardikpandya7) March 14, 2019

What's next?

Since he is coming off an injury coupled with the fact that he is one of the vital cogs in the Indian line-up, Pandya's workload will be one of the key aspects during the 2019 IPL.

With several players like skipper Virat Kohli and Bhuvneshwar Kumar speaking about the significance of reducing the workload during the IPL, Pandya is likely to miss a few games this season for the three-time winners, who begin their campaign against a new-look Delhi Capitals side at home on March 24.