Team India fans have torn apart Hardik Pandya for his captaincy tactics after the eight-wicket loss to the West Indies in the 5th and final T20I held at Lauderhill on Sunday. Along with his captaincy skills, the Baroda-born cricketer has faced flak for his batting performances throughout the series, especially for playing too defensively in the final game.
With the West Indies needing 34 off the final 30 deliveries to chase down the target of 170, Pandya brought in leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal, who had already gone for 35 runs in his 3 overs. Chahal leaked two sixes off the last two balls of his spell to concede 16 runs off the last over. It brought the equation down to a comfortable 18 off 24 deliveries.
While Tilak Varma, a part-time off-spinner, got the wicket of Nicholas Pooran, Pandya decided to give him another over instead of going back to his strike bowler. The 20-year-old gave away two more boundaries in the over and finished off the game in the 18th over.
Hardik Pandya managed only 77 runs in the series:
The 29-year-old's batting performance was most disappointing in the series as he managed only 77 runs in 4 innings at 25.67 with a best of 24. He started off quite slowly in the fifth T20I and was 6 off his first 12 balls. The visiting captain also got a reprieve from Alzarri Joseph as the right-arm pacer failed to hold onto the one hit straight to him.
Hardik teed off against Romario Shepherd after a rain-enforced break, hitting his first six in the 17th over. However, he holed out to long-on on the very next delivery, departing for 14 off 18 deliveries. Suryakumar Yadav's 61 and Tilak Varma's cameo went in vain as the hosts clinched their first T20I series win over India since 2017.
Below are how fans have reacted to Hardik Pandya's captaincy:
