Hardik Pandya scored 40 off 35 balls during India's Rajkot T20I defeat.
Mystery spinner Varun Chakaravarthy’s sensational figures of 5 for 24 in 4 overs helped the hosts restrict England to 171/9 in the first innings. However, it went in vain as the Indian batting line-up collapsed in the chase that ensued.
Sanju Samson (3), Abhishek Sharma (24) and Suryakumar Yadav (14) were dismissed in the powerplay, while the in-form Tilak Varma (18) couldn’t add anything substantial either.
Hardik Pandya (40 off 35 balls) fought hard to keep India in the hunt, but struggled to keep the scoreboard ticking at a consistent pace. In the end, the visitors managed to defend the total, restricting India to 145/9 in 20 overs.
After the game, former cricketer Parthiv Patel slammed Pandya for eating up too many deliveries to settle in during India’s unsuccessful run-chase.
“I thought when you are taking your time you want to get used to the pace and bounce of the pitch. But you cannot take 20-25 balls to get settled. So that put pressure on the other batters as well. If you don’t want to play those big shots, that’s okay, but you still have to keep on rotating the strike. You can’t play three or four dot balls in a row," Patel said on Star Sports.
“And you might just see Hardik Pandya scoring 40 off 35 balls, but there are a number of dots in his innings that put pressure on the other batters as well. So, I think that’s something which India can think of. You take your time. Yes, it’s a low score, but you still have to keep rotating the strike as well with it," he added.
The former wicketkeeper-batter was also critical of Indian team management’s insistence of sticking to the left-right combination in the batting order. He suggested Dhruv Jurel could’ve batted higher up in the order and given sufficient time to construct a big innings.
“Left and right combination is alright till No.4 but after that you should send your best batters. Jurel is a proper batsman. He could have constructed a big innings," Patel remarked.
The T20I series currently stands 2-1 in favour of India. The penultimate match will be played in Pune on Friday (January 31).