In the first T20I against the West Indies, Hardik Pandya acknowledged that India’s attempt to chase down 150 runs was difficult because of the frequent wicket losses.
With a 4-run loss on Thursday, the Indian cricket team got the five-match T20I series against the West Indies off to a bad start. With the exception of Tilak Varma, who was making his debut, no Indian batter was able to play with the kind of assurance that was anticipated from the Indian squad during the enthralling match. Hardik Pandya, the team’s captain, said after the game that it was challenging for them because they were dropping wickets frequently without forming strong partnerships.
“We were right in the chase and quite comfortable there. We made some errors which costed us the game which is fine. A young team will make mistakes. We will grow together. Throughout the game, we were in control of the game which was the positive in this game. Good four games coming ahead,” he said.
Hardik admitted that keeping wickets in hand is the key to chasing down any total. After India lost both Hardik Pandya and Sanju Samson in the 16th over, the momentum sharply turned in the favour of the hosts. It became incredibly difficult for Indi to recover despite the fact that Axar Patel was still left to bat.
“That exactly happened in T20 cricket, where losing wickets makes it challenging to chase down any score. The momentum towards you can shift after a few blows. Our chase was put on hold when we dropped a few wickets. The decision to play three spinners was more influenced by the circumstances. In order for the two wristies (Kuldeep and Chahal) to play together, we would like to provide them with possibilities. In terms of his batting, Axar is a very good addition. That was what we considered to be the ideal mixture. It is excellent for Mukesh (Kumar) to have spent the past two weeks in the West Indies, where he made debuts in all three formats. He’s a good guy, really.
He wants to help the team out and has a very decent heart. He bowled two consecutive overs, which was terrific, added Hardik.
India would like the team to gel as a unit as quickly as possible given that there are still four games left in the series.
