Former Indian cricketer Irfan Pathan has taken an indirect dig at captain Hardik Pandya following the Men in Blue’s seven-wicket win against West Indies at the Providence Stadium in Guyana on Tuesday, August 8.
The reaction came after the all-rounder promoted himself ahead of Sanju Samson and then hit the winning runs, denying Tilak Varma (49*) a half-century. The visitors won the game with 13 balls to spare to keep themselves alive in the five-game series.
Irfan Pathan tweeted:
“Mushkil kaam aap karo, Asaan kaam mein Kar leta hoo. Suna suna Sa lagta hai…(You do the difficult work, I will do the easy work. It seems like heard…)”
For the unversed, Pandya smashed a six when Varma was on 49* at the non-striker’s end. Interestingly, the right-handed batter walked ahead of Samson in the batting unit. The wicketkeeper batted ahead of him at No. 5 in the second T20I.
Fans on Twitter criticized Hardik Pandya in reply to Irfan Pathan’s tweet. One user tweeted:
“I support you, bro... Arshdeep ko powerplay me 1 hi ovr dena or khud 3 ovr krwa dena Arshdeep se pehle.. (Giving only 1 over to Arshdeep in the powerplay and getting himself to bowl 3 overs before Arshdeep) I think he will become the most selfish captain in the history of Indian cricket.”
Here are some of the other Twitter reactions:
“Two losses or two wins does not change the long-term plans” – Hardik Pandya
Hardik Pandya hit back at critics as Team India bounced back in the series following their seven-wicket win in the third T20I. He said:
“Very important (to win). We spoke as a group that these three games will be exciting. Two losses or two wins do not change the long-term plans. We have to show we are ready when it comes to such (must-win) games.”
He further credited Suryakumar Yadav (83 off 44) for his exploits with the bat.
“As Surya mentioned, they (SKY and Tilak) play together and spend time together, good to have someone like SKY in the team and when he takes responsibility it sends a message to the others.”
Click here to check the IND vs WI 3rd T20I full scorecard.
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