'He Told Tilak To Go Easy But Tried Hitting Big Shots Himself': Ex-India Opener Slams Hardik Pandya

Cricketer-turned-commentator Aakash Chopra is one among many others who have openly slammed Hardik Pandya for not letting Tilak Varma attain his well-deserved fifty.

Hardik Pandya hit a six to finish off things when debutant Tilak Varma was just two runs away from scoring his fifty.

Source : @45Fan_Prathmesh / Twitter

IND vs WI: After suffering back-to-back shocking defeats in first two T20Is, team India bounced back by defeating West Indies in IND vs WI 3rd T20I on Tuesday (August 8) at Providence international cricket stadium in Guyana. The fixture was a must-win for India who were 0-2 against the hosts before 3rd T20I. For India, Suryakumar Yadav (44-ball 83) and Tilak Varma (unbeaten 49) were the pick of batters as their fiery knocks helped visitors chase down the target with 13 balls remaining for loss of three wickets.

It was captain Hardik Pandya who hit the winning runs for India by hitting a gigantic six off 18th over's second-last ball, bowled by Windies captain Rovman Powell. However, the star all-rounder is being slammed and trolled by fans on the internet for his 'selfish act'. India had plenty overs left and there was no rush to finish the match but Hardik decided to himself finish off things with a six when debutant Tilak Varma was just two runs away from scoring his fifty.

Hardik Pandya smashes it for six to pull India back to 2-1 against West Indies in the T20I Series 🇮🇳#WIvIND pic.twitter.com/ryMVO522YY

— Cricket on TNT Sports (@cricketontnt) August 8, 2023

Cricketer-turned-commentator Aakash Chopra is one among many others who have openly slammed Hardik Pandya for not letting Tilak attain his well-deserved fifty.

"Tilak Varma, outstanding. First Indian to get 30+ scores in his first three international innings. He scored a fifty in his previous games and was close to another this time too; in fact, it should've been a fifty. His temperament is good, his range is good; he was aggressive at first and then was happy to play second fiddle to Suryakumar," Chopra said.

"Hardik comes to bat and tells him that it's important to remain not out; don't get carried away. Then Hardik hits aggressively. You don't need NRR; it would've made no difference. He told Tilak to go easy but tried to hit big shots himself. You needed two runs off 13 balls, and he smashed a six. I'm sure they want to build a culture that doesn't care about individual milestones. But even a not out doesn't really matter here; even if you were out there, you still had 12 balls there to score 2 runs. Tilak was denied a chance to score fifty. That's just my opinion, though," he added.