In a video game, Hardik Pandya would be a character with many avatars.

The current one - a 32-year-old veteran at this T20 World Cup - has already slammed a 28-ball 52 as India scored 209 against Namibia despite the pitch. He also opened the bowling, finished with 2 for 21, and was Player of the Match. Still, in this India set-up, Hardik has been at the periphery of the spotlight. Newer-age players like Ishan Kishan - a blistering 61 in the same match - and Varun Chakravarthy - 3 for 7 with his mystery spin - have taken the headlines instead.

Because of rest or injury, Hardik has missed 12 of India's 42 games between the previous T20 World Cup and this one. In the matches he has played since July 2024, India have a win-loss ratio of 6.5. Without him, it drops to 5.5. In his 26 wins, Hardik's batting average is 35.53 and strike rate is 179.46, and he has 20 wickets at a strike rate of 21.3. In four defeats, his batting strike rate drops to 93.51. Hardik is the cheat code that allows India a variety of options in white-ball cricket - like playing just one specialist fast bowler to pick four spinners to suit the surface in the 2025 Champions Trophy final.

He's now in Colombo for India's first blockbuster match of this tournament, against Pakistan. The teams have met only sporadically over the decade he has been an international player and his performances against them have been emblematic of his growth as a white-ball allrounder: spawning new avatars, always in the heat of the battle at a big event, and helping his team to landmark results, but often away from the spotlight.

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The avatar that Hardik begins his career as is a player with pitch-black hair, a faint beard, and an uncanny ability to hit spin from deep inside his crease. India still want to trial him as an allrounder in Tests. He is not a constructor of innings as much as he is a basher who changes games if he sticks around long enough.

In the 2017 Champions Trophy final against Pakistan, he walks out at The Oval with India 54 for 5, chasing 339, and soon launches Shadab Khan for three back-to-back sixes. Between Hardik's entrance and the mix-up with Ravindra Jadeja that eventually costs him his wicket, he hammers 76 off 43 and spooks Pakistan.

Most people recall Jasprit Bumrah's no-ball, Fakhar Zaman's century, Mohammad Amir's new-ball burst from that match. Some take notice of the heart-stopping Hardik assault and remember what could have been.

By the time the 2022 T20 World Cup comes around, Hardik has undergone an evolution to the other extreme. Under the MCG lights, his beard has filled out, his hair is cropped short, and a fledgling Test career is long behind him. His body is wrapped in cottonwool most of the year instead.

Hardik still brings out the big hits when he needs to, but he is a more versatile batter and a skilful line-and-length bowler. He picks up 3 for 30 with hard lengths on

a bouncy Melbourne track, ripping out the middle order to restrict Pakistan to 159. Then he strides out to bat with India 31 for 4, needing 129 off 83 balls. He responds, as he has over the past year, by tucking away the big shots. By the time he falls in the 20th over, India are 16 runs away from an iconic victory.

People remember Virat Kohli's knock of a lifetime and that six off Haris Rauf. The scorecard also records Hardik's 40 off 37 that prevented India from collapsing against Pakistan's pace. He says at the end of the match: "With three balls left, I told the boys, 'even if we lose the game, it's okay'." You can't help but believe him.

Between that match at the MCG and the next India-Pakistan game at the 2024 T20 World Cup, Hardik endured a difficult time. He's booed around the country for replacing Rohit Sharma as Mumbai Indians captain, and replaced by Rohit as India's T20I captain for the tournament.

On the outskirts of New York, Rohit gives Hardik the ball as India are defending 119. He concedes 18 in his first two overs but returns to bounce out Fakhar in the 13th and Shadab in the 17th to help knock Pakistan out. Once again, he isn't the headline. He isn't the headline once again when India win the 2024 T20 World Cup with another stirring defence in the final. Kohli and Bumrah were the leaders with bat and ball; Hardik contributed 3 for 20 and defended 16 in the final over.

Amid these landmark games against Pakistan, Hardik's had several minor hits against them too: 3 for 8 in the 2016 Asia Cup; 26 off 19 and 2 for 44 in the 2019 World Cup; 3 for 35 and 33* off 17 in the 2022 Asia Cup; 2 for 34 in the 2023 World Cup; and 2 for 31 in the 2025 Champions Trophy.

On Sunday in Colombo, the avatar that takes the field against Pakistan has peroxide blonde hair and many more tattoos on his arms. He's back to playing the role of finisher but moves up when required, and bowls with the new ball too.

Once again, the spotlight will be on Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan leading India's marauding top-order, and Bumrah and Varun's genius with the ball. Against Pakistan on a big stage, however, Hardik Pandya often brings that final boss aura.