He scored 40 runs in 35 deliveries, including one boundary and two maximums, at a strike rate of 114.29.
England finally won their first match of this tour by defeating India by 26 runs in the third T20I. They were decent with the bat and brilliant with the ball, churning out a disciplined bowling show to defend a relatively low total.
Indian batters played too many loose shots and never got going as English bowlers kept things tight, not allowing the opponent to run away with the game. Still, India could have tried hitting more shots in the middle overs to put more pressure on the bowler, but they went through the motions and played too many dot balls.
Among them, Hardik Pandya’s innings was the most bizarre and frustrating because he took too many deliveries to settle, and the required rate kept rising. He often tries to take the game deep but left too many runs this time to put himself under ample pressure.
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He scored 40 runs in 35 deliveries, including one boundary and two maximums, at a strike rate of 114.29. He played 31.43% of dot balls and took 11.67 deliveries for every boundary, which is unacceptable when the run rate rises consistently.
Hardik Pandya was at 23 runs in 27 deliveries at one stage, and the team required 64 runs in the final four overs. That meant other batters were also put under pressure, and they crumbled under pressure.
While taking a few deliveries to get set is fine, especially when quick wickets have fallen, Hardik was too conservative and took too many deliveries. It was too late when he tried to break the shackles and lost his wicket, leaving him frustrated.
The reactions around Hardik’s knock are aplenty, with most criticising him for not attacking slightly early, and rightly so. In this segment, we have curated some of those and posted them below.
Here are some reactions:
This method of taking the game deep can often backfire, and the same happened with Hardik today. Hopefully, this knock will help him understand how to weave a T20 innings better so he doesn’t leave too much for the end.
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