Despite India being the least likely to win the match in this situation, the fans weren’t happy after the game when India’s captain Hardik Pandya started shaking hands with the final ball of the match.
Hardik Pandya made a sad face most of his T20I in his second against Sri Lanka. There was good reason for that. His Arshdeep Singh, a bowler with a T20I pistol, set an accidental world record for most front foot throws his no-balls in a T20I. He scored a maximum of five overs in his two overs at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune. India gave up seven free hits on Thursday and threw four more wides, allowing Sri Lanka to post 206 in the first six. Hardik and India’s woes were endless, losing four wickets for just 34 in just 4.4 overs. Hardik himself said he was 12 out. India he drew 57 for 5 but needed 150 runs from just 65 balls at nearly 15 runs per over, so Deepak his Hooda didn’t drop much either. Most teams lose the game by a large margin in this situation. But not India. In fact, they pulled off such a strong comeback that the chase continued to the end.
This is all thanks to the successful partnership between Axar Patel and Suryakumar Yadav. Axor, who appeared to hit a different bowling tackle on a different surface than other Indian batsmen, started playing shots from the start. He was so good that he somewhat surpassed Suryakumar in partnership.
However, the requested rate remained difficult and Sri Lanka held him firmly in the lead until the 13th. In the next case, things would change dramatically. Axar scored a hat-trick of 6 ahead of Wanindu’s Hasaranga and his partner Suryakumar scored his trick in the hat as he scored one and India stole his 26 runs from the overs, making the cat a pigeon. I put it inside. The crowd and the Indian dressing room got their votes back. The atmosphere remained the same in his next two overs, with both Axar and SKY going full speed ahead.
Things looked bleak again when Suryakumar fell on 51 towards the end of his 16 overs. In a sharp return towards Sri Lanka where the balance was easy, young Shibam Mavi hit two sixes and a four from the last three balls of 18 overs to make India believe again.
However, Sri Lanka kept the tension in the final two overs to close out the match, but just before the match officially ended – India needed a run off 17 balls and needed a miracle or two. It was virtually impossible – Captain Hardik Pandya shook hands with the Indian players and coaches. Players typically shake hands with teammates and opponents after a match.
A photo went viral of Hardik approaching his Jitesh Sharma, on the field his coach T Dilip and Shubman Gill, shaking hands in turn while the match was still going on.
This situation made India the least likely to win the match, but the fans weren’t happy that the Indian captain started shaking hands after the game with the last ball of the match. “Bowling and batting, the power play hurt us. We made some fundamental mistakes that should not have been made at this level. Hardik said after losing by 16 runs.
The series will be a 1-1 draw with the final decider taking place on Saturday at Rajkot.