India won the third T20I against West Indies on Tuesday in Guyana to stay alive in the five-match series, but the end of the game didn’t sit well with the Indian team fans on social media.
India’s T20I captain Hardik Pandya came in for some heavy criticism as he denied Tilak Varma his second consecutive fifty in T20Is, as he hit a six to win the match when two runs were needed for Men in Blue.
Batting first, West Indies had put up 159/5 in 20 overs with Rovman Powell (40*) and Brandon King (42) being the top run-getters. For India, Kuldeep Yadav picked 3/28.
In reply, Suryakumar Yadav led the way with 83 runs and he added 87 runs for the third wicket with Tilak Varma, who remained 49* in 37 balls. Hardik Pandya made 20*, and hit a six with 2 runs needed to win the game.
On the 5th ball of the 18th over, Hardik hit a maximum on the bowling of Rovman Powell, taking India across the line.
Though the series now stands 1-2 for India, with the last two matches to be played in Florida on August 12 and 13, Hardik Pandya has been severely criticized for his ‘selfish’ deed of hitting a six when Tilak needed one run to complete his fifty, which would’ve been his second in T20Is.
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