‘Take Note And Improve’: Former Cricketer Calls Hardik Pandya ‘Rusty’ After Series Loss vs Windies

Former cricketer called Hardik Pandya 'Rusty' after Team India's 3-2 T20I series loss against Rovman Powell's West Indies

AFTER Romario Shepherd’s sensational bowling display, Brandon King and Nicholas Pooran starred with the bat to seal the five-match T20 series after beating India by 8 wickets in the fifth and final match at the Central Broward Regional Park Stadium Turf Ground. West Indies won the five-match series 3-2 and this is their first T20I series win over India since 2017.

Skipper Hardik Pandya has accepted blame for going off-script as India lost the T20I series decider against West Indies and said he wasn’t able to seize the opportunity when he came in to bat and didn’t execute the game plan precisely as intended.

Hardik arrived in the 11th over of the first innings and made just 14 off 18 balls. He hit his first and only six in the 16th ball of his innings as India finished on 165 for 9 in their 20 overs. In response, West Indies chased it down with eight wickets and two overs to spare.

Wasim Jaffer Calls Hardik Pandya ‘Rusty’

Former Indian cricketer pointed out that Hardik Pandya didn’t look in great form which is not a great sign for India considering the tight schedule ahead.

“Well, it has been a concern. He looks little rusty. We can’t say that the free-flowing Hardik Pandya who comes in and strikes it sweetly. Doesn’t mean hitting sixes but striking it nicely, rotating the strike. Apart from the fifty he scored in the 3rd ODI, where also he started very very slowly, and picked it up in the slog overs. But even then he looked a little rusty,” said Jaffer on ESPNcricinfo.

“That’s a concern for me. Looking at how Hardik Pandya batted in the series, that was a big concern. Not everytime he is going to start slowly, and he is going to finish strongly. We could see this during this series as well. As soon as he comes, the momentum drops down, the strike-rate comes down and puts the pressure on the other guys and the dug out as well. Something for him to worry, take note and improve,” he added.