"We Have To...": Captain Hardik Pandya's Stern Message For Batters Despite 4th T20I Win
The nine-wicket win over West Indies in the fourth T20I left Hardik Pandya a pleased man.
After being 0-2 down in the 5-match T20I series against West Indies, Hardik Pandya's Indian team bounced back to win the next two matches in convincing fashion, making it 2-2, with just the 5th and the final match to go. After the West Indies leg of the series, both the teams arrived in the United States of America where Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal stole th show with the bat. India skipper Hardik opened up on the dramatic turnaround in the team's fortunes, explaining his style of leadership.
For Pandya it was just the beginning and urged the batters to be ready for bigger situations.
"Gill and Jaiswal were brilliant. There is no doubt over their skillset. They just needed to spend some time between the wickets. Going forward we have to take more responsibility as a batting group and support the bowlers. I've always believed bowlers win matches," said Pandya after the match.
India were trailing 0-2 after the first two matches, but won the third and fourth games to roar back into the series.
Pandya was understandably elated by the team's effort.
"We lost two games but in the first game it was our own errors. We were cruising and in the last four overs we slipped. We spoke about how these kinds of games show our character.
"The boys took it (defeats) in their stride. The two games (after the first two defeats) we played reflected that we pulled up our socks and played some good cricket,” he added.
Jaiswal, who struck an unbeaten 84 off 51 balls, was adjudged man of the match, and the left-hander said he batted as per the team's needs.
West Indies captain Rovman Powell said batsmen need to stick to their plans and play India spinners better.
"We didn't stick to our plans. We always knew this series would come down to how we play against spinners (of India)," said Powell.
With PTI inputs
Hardik Pandya
India Cricket Team
West Indies Cricket Team