‘Hardik Pandya’s knock put pressure on other India batters’: Parthiv Patel on all-rounder’s batting in Rajkot loss to England | Cricket News

Former India wicket-keeper Parthiv Patel has lamented Hardik Pandya’s slow-paced anchor knock as a vital reason why the team could not chase down a reasonable target against England in the thrid T20I in Rajkot on Tuesday night.
Chasing 172, India suffered a mini-stumble before Pandya walked in at 48 for three in the Powerplay. However, the all-rounder found it hard to keep the chase moving and opted to take the game deep. While he cracked a couple of late sixes and decided against a single with partner Dhruv Jurel to retain strike, Pandya holed out in the 19th over on 40 off 35 balls.
India eventually fell short 26 runs with Pandya emerging the top scorer. However, Pandya’s batting template did not satisfy his former Mumbai Indians teammate Patel.
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“I thought when you are taking your time you want to get used to the pace and bounce of the pitch. But you cannot take 20-25 balls to get settled. So that put pressure on the other batters as well. If you don’t want to play those big shots, that’s okay, but you still have to keep on rotating the strike. You can’t play three or four dot balls in a row,” Patel said talking to Star Sports.
Patel added that Pandya’s accumulation of dot balls put the pressure on the batters at the other end. Notably, number six Washington Sundar also endured a rough stand out in the middle, scoring only six off 15 balls during his fifth-wicket stand with Pandya.
“And you might just see Hardik Pandya scoring 40 off 35 balls, but there are a number of dots in his innings that put pressure on the other batters as well. So, I think that’s something which India can think of. You take your time. Yes, it’s a low score, but you still have to keep rotating the strike as well with it,” added Patel.
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