Team India T20I captain Hardik Pandya has been the talk of the town despite the Men in Blue coasting to a 7-wicket win over the West Indies in the third match of the series on Tuesday in Guyana. The 28-year-old has been trending on social media as fans were calling him selfish for denying Tilak Varma a well-deserved half-century.
With only 2 runs required off 14 deliveries, Pandya smashed a six to seal a convincing win. However, Tilak Varma was stranded on 49 at the other end as he came in at a tricky situation to help build a counterattacking 87-run partnership with Suryakumar Yadav. The Indian youngster finished his knock at 49 off 37 deliveries four boundaries and a solitary maximum. The Baroda-born cricketer was compared with MS Dhoni when he allowed Virat Kohli to finish the match during the 2014 T20 World Cup semi-final against South Africa.
The Mumbai Indians star had a stellar start to his T20I career, slamming 39 off 22 deliveries in the first game and top-scored with 51 in the 2nd to lift the Men in Blue to 152 in 20 overs.
Kuldeep Yadav's impressive bowling figures limit West Indies to 159:
India's premier wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav finished with outstanding figures of 4-0-28-3 to keep the hosts to a modest yet tricky 159. The 15th over bowled by the 28-year-old was critical as he dismissed two set batters in Nicholas Pooran and Brandon King. Rovman Powell's late assault of 3 sixes, including 2 off Arshdeep Singh was critical in giving the West Indies 160 to defend.
Here's how the fans reacted to Hardik Pandya denying Tilak Varma a well-deserved half-century:
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