Former Indian batter Ambati Rayudu believes all-rounder Hardik Pandya could have shown more faith in Dhruv Jurel when the hosts were chasing 172 runs against England in the third T20I at the Naranjan Shah Stadium, Rajkot on Tuesday.
Pandya scored 40 runs off 35 balls while chasing but India suffered a 26-run loss. Dhruv Jurel, who batted at number eight, could only manage two runs off four balls.
On the last ball of the 18th over, Pandya declined a single to Dhruv Jurel as he wanted the strike for the next over. However, Pandya was dismissed on the first ball of the 19th over when he could not get a perfect connection.
“It was a good performance because batting wasn’t that easy and wickets were falling from the other end. So he paced his innings well. However, when the finishing touch was required to be given, he could have shown a little faith in Dhruv Jurel,” Ambati Rayudu said on Star Sports.
Rayudu noted that Pandya could have even scored 25 runs in the final over but the right-hander failed to find his timing towards the fag end.
“Even if 25 had been required in the last over, Hardik has the ability to hit that. So I feel if he had shown a little more confidence in Dhruv Jurel, the game might have been closer. However, the way he paced his innings was very heartening,” Rayudu observed.
On the other hand, Pandya provided the first breakthrough for India as he bamboozled Phil Salt with a slower ball. Pandya also accounted for Liam Livingstone and returned with impressive figures of 2-33 in his quota of four overs. Former Indian leg-spinner Piyush Chawla noted that the wickets’ column hardly remains empty.
“He is a wicket-taker. The wicket column for Hardik Pandya remains empty very rarely. If you pick up wickets with the new ball in T20s, and he dismissed Phil Salt, who is a good attacking batter, in his first over, and then he bowled well in the slog overs, I feel it was a very good spell from Hardik Pandya,” the veteran spinner replied.
The fourth T20I between India and England will take place at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune on Friday.
