Hardik Pandya felt that he and Rishabh Pant got out at the wrong time and that stopped Team India to score 360 runs in the 3rd ODI against England in Pune.
India lost the toss and batted first yet again in the 3rd ODI. Openers Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan scored 37 and 67 respectively to set up a good platform for the rest of the batsmen to build on. However, skipper Virat Kohli and KL Rahul fell in single digits.
The onus was then on Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya to score the big runs for the home side. Both of them delivered with quickfire half-centuries but fell just when the team was supposed to push the opposition to the wall. Pant fell on 78 when the score read 256 in 36 overs while Hardik got out on 64, just three overs later.
Hardik Pandya told Star Sports after the innings, "At one point, we thought of 360 (runs) but myself and Rishabh got out at the wrong time, otherwise, it would've been a different story. I don't think it was much different, just simple cricket, we backed ourselves and we have done it many times."
"We didn't get what we expected for the team, we would've added a few more had we batted for long but we have to be okay with whatever we have got," he added.
India got bowled out for 329 in the 49th over of the innings. Talking about the second essay, he suggested that the Indian bowlers need to bowl proper balls to make it difficult for the English batters to chase down 330.
"We need to bowl proper balls and make it difficult for them. We just have to be smart, I feel if we bowl in the right areas, we have a chance," Hardik added.
In the same interview, he also confirmed that he will bowl during the second innings of the series decider.
