Hardik Pandya: The majority of the second T20I match against Sri Lanka featured Hardik Pandya donning a sad expression. For bowling the most front foot no-balls in a T20I, his lethal T20I bowler Arshdeep Singh accidentally set a world record. At the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune, he overstepped up to five times in his two overs. On Thursday, India threw seven free hits and bowled four more wides, allowing Sri Lanka, who were batting first, to score 206 for six. Hardik and India’s struggles continued unabated as they lost four wickets for only 34 runs in just 4.4 overs, with Hardik being dismissed for 12 runs.
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Sri Lanka levelled the series by 1-1
While India was in trouble at 57 for 5, requiring 150 runs off just 65 balls at over 15 runs per over, Deepak Hooda also fell for a very small number of runs. From this position, the majority of teams would lose the game handily. not India however. In fact, their comeback was so powerful that it kept the chase going until the very last over.
It was all a result of Axar Patel and Suryakumar Yadav’s excellent collaboration. Axar began to play strokes right away, seemingly hitting on a different surface and against a different bowling lineup than the other Indian batsmen. He performed so well that he significantly outperformed Suryakumar in the partnership.
Hardik Pandya’s handshake before the match got over
However, Sri Lanka maintained their composure in the final two overs to end the game, but just before it was asserted over, India’s captain Hardik Pandya was seen shaking hands with the Indian players and support staff. India needed 1 run off 17 balls, which was virtually impossible barring a few miracles. After a game, players usually shake hands with their teammates and rivals.
While the game was still in progress, pictures of Hardik approaching Jitesh Sharma, T Dilip, the fielding coach, and Shubman Gill and shaking each of them hands individually went viral.
After the game, Hardik Pandya said “In bowling and batting, the powerplay hurt us. We made some basic errors, which we shouldn’t be making at this level. Everyone knows what it is, The learning for us is we should be focussing on what we can control.” The series is tied at one game each, hence the final game will be played on Saturday in Rajkot.
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