"You Needed 2 Off 13 Balls": Hardik Pandya Blasted For Denying Tilak Varma Fifty
Hardik Pandya has been slammed by many over his decision to wrap up the 3rd T20I chase against West Indies with a six when Tilak Varma was on the cusp of his half-century.
India's skipper for the T20I series against West Indies, Hardik Pandya has been an intense topic of discussion on social media over his 'selfish act' that denied youngster Tilak Varma a half-century in the third T20I against West Indies. Hardik hit a six to complete India's run-chase despite the fact that Tilak was at the non-striker end, just one run shy of his half-century. After fans criticised the India skipper for his decision, even former India cricketer Aakash Chopra has expressed his disappointment.
Tilak registered scores of 39, 51 and 49 not-out in his last three innings, becoming the first Indian to score 30+ score in all of his first three international innings.
"Tilak Varma, outstanding. First Indian to get 30+ scores in his first three international innings. He scored a fifty in his previous games and was close to another this time too, in fact, it should've been a fifty. His temperament is good, his range is good, he was aggressive at first and then was happy to play second-fiddle to Suryakumar," Chopra said in a video on his YouTube channel.
Tilak Varma needed one run to score his fifty and Hardik Pandya hit a six to win the game.
— Abdullah Neaz (@Abdullah__Neaz) August 8, 2023
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"Hardik comes to bat, tells him it's important to remain not out, don't get carried away. Then Hardik hits aggressive hits... you don't need NRR, it would've made no difference. He told Tilak to go easy, but tried to hit big shots himself. You needed 2 runs off 13 balls, and he smashed a six. I'm sure they want to build a culture that doesn't care about individual milestones. But even a not-out doesn't really matter here, even if you were out there, you still had 12 balls there to score 2 runs. Tilak was denied a chance to score a fifty. That's just my opinion, though," Chopra further said.
Having lost the first two T20Is against West Indies, India bounced back to keep the series alive. But, India still trail 1-2 in the 5-match assignment.
India Cricket Team
West Indies Cricket Team
Hardik Pandya