Team India’s young batter Tilak Varma played a brilliant knock in the third IND vs WI T20I on August 8 at the Providence Stadium in Guyana. However, he remained unbeaten at a score of 49 and couldn’t score his second fifty in T20Is as Indian skipper Hardik Pandya smashed the match-winning six.
The Men in Blue were in a spot of bother as they lost their openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill in a quick succession. Tilak Varma then made a formidable partnership with vice-captain Suryakumar Yadav for the third wicket.
Varma played the second fiddle as Suryakumar Yadav kept playing his shots right from the word go. The aggressive batter eventually scored 83 runs off just 44 deliveries and brought the Indian Team into the driver’s seat.
Hardik Pandya smashes match-winning six, denies Tilak Varma his fifty
After the dismissal of Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma anchored the Indian innings and made sure that there weren’t any more hiccups in the innings. Hardik Pandya too played a cautious knock as they were cruising towards the target.
On the 5th delivery of the 18th over bowled by Rovman Powell, the Indian captain smashed a massive six as the Indian team successfully chased down the target set by West Indies. However, Tilak Varma remained unbeaten on the other end at a score of 49 off 37 deliveries.
Tilak Varma needed one run to score his fifty and Hardik Pandya hit a six to win the game.
— Abdullah Neaz (@Abdullah__Neaz) August 8, 2023
Your thoughts?🤔#INDvsWI #WIvsIND #TilakVarma #HardikPandyapic.twitter.com/gBdIDjps3e
The young batter missed out on the opportunity to get his second T20I fifty and the cricket fans heavily criticised Hardik Pandya for playing the glory shot rather than allowing Tilak a chance to get his fifty.
“Never seen a SELFISH Player like Hardik Pandya, Tilak was batting at 49 in his third game & Hardik finished the match with the six,this is how the LEADER should be?” wrote one of the Twitter users.
Never seen a SELFISH Player like Hardik Pandya, Tilak was batting at 49 in hisa third game & Hardik finished the match with the six,this is how the LEADER should be?
— ᴘʀᴀᴛʜᴍᴇsʜ⁴⁵ (@45Fan_Prathmesh) August 8, 2023
Pathetic! pic.twitter.com/CoTJTSU6fy
Ab na waisa emotion raha cricket mein aur na waisi sportsmanship.
— Deepak Phogat (@deepakphogat30) August 9, 2023
After what Hardik Pandya did with Tilak Varma everyone started missing this beautiful moment between MSD and Virat🤝#HardikPandya #TilakVarma #INDvWI #WIvsIND pic.twitter.com/17cMcauyz7
Tilak Varma needs one run to score 50 and Hardik Pandya hits a six to win the game.
— ANSHUMAN🚩 (@AvengerReturns) August 8, 2023
This guy is clearly not happy with Mumbai Indians players 😭😭 pic.twitter.com/ZPcvLIxL9G
I will never forget pandya for this act, he could have taken a single to give strike for tilak to finish the match and complete his 50 but his arrogance and jealous mindset stopped tilak from making his second consecutive 50
— 𝗔𝘆𝘂𝘀𝗵 🇮🇳 (@RofiedAyush) August 8, 2023
Pandya you gain your a forever hater, feel for Tilak💔 pic.twitter.com/eNWNFzNjk3
Tilak Varma has been exceptional for the Men in Blue in the T20I series against West Indies. He has shown his potential consistently and has scored 39, 51* and 49* in the three innings he has played till now. He has also performed exceedingly well in the last two editions of the IPL for the Mumbai Indians franchise.
ALSO READ: ‘Don’t lose to Pakistan…’ – Shikhar Dhawan has his say on IND vs PAK 2023 World Cup clash
Meanwhile, the Indian Team finally got into some form as the convincingly defeated West Indies in the third T20I after losing the first two games. The two teams will now contest against each other in the remaining two games in the USA on August 12 and 13.