Fans outburst over Hardik's 'selfish' act to deny Tilak Varma a fifty in 3rd T20I
Fans were left in anger after Hardik Pandya denied to take single which left Tilak Varma from scoring fifty in 3rd T20I.
Crickate
After falling behind 0-2 in the first two games of the five-match T20I series, India has fought back to win the third game. On Tuesday, at the same venue where they suffered their second consecutive loss, India registered a seven-wicket victory in which Suryakumar Yadav surged back to form in spectacular fashion to showcase his devastating best in the format.
His brilliant innings of 83 runs off 44 deliveries enabled India to reach the target of 160 with 13 balls remaining. However, he was not the only contributor to the victory. Young Tilak Varma, who has been the lone bright spot in India's T20I series against the West Indies, continued his superb form by scoring 49 runs without being defeated. Fans were enraged by captain Hardik Pandya's "pathetic and shameless" act to deny the youngster a well-deserved second consecutive fifty in the series, after the team's enormous victory.
Tilak was given his international debut in the first T20I match of the series, where he scored an impressive 39 off 25 balls, the highest score by an Indian batsman in a match where the team's batting performance was abysmal. In the second game on the lethargic Guyana pitch, he furthered his performance by scoring his first T20I fifty.
On Tuesday, he ably assisted Suryakumar in a match-reviving 87-run third-wicket stand before smashing four fours and a six for an unbeaten 49 off 37 balls. Before slowing down towards the conclusion of India's chase, he appeared certain to score his second consecutive fifty in the series.
IND vs WI 3RD T20I: Here's how fans reacted
Hardik was expected to either play out the over or gift the Mumbai Indians star the strike with a single when Tilak reached 49* with a single off the fourth ball of the 18th over, with India needing two runs to win the match. MS Dhoni did something similar with Virat Kohli in the 2014 World T20, when the then-India captain played out a delivery to end the over and enable Kohli to gain strike and score the winning run against South Africa after having single-handedly crafted a magnificent chase for India.
Instead of aiming for a single, Hardik hit the slower delivery from his Windies captain Rovman Powell over long-off for a six. While the shot ended India's pursuit, it left Tilak unbeaten on 49 with social media users fuming at the Indian captain. A few deliveries earlier, when Tilak was on 44*, the stump mic captured Hardik urging the youngster to remain until the end of the match and finish the game.
Suryakumar Yadav praise Tilak Varma
One of the reasons Suryakumar and Tilak were able to form such a successful partnership was due to their shared comprehension of each other's roles for Mumbai Indians in the IPL, which was evident in the opening T20I. The senior batter later attributed this 87-run partnership with winning the game.
"We (himself and Tilak) have batted together for a long time, and we both know how the other batters and how he batted, which gave me a great deal of confidence. "He (Tilak) had a fantastic innings at the other end," he said after receiving his Player of the Match award.
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