Hardik Pandya accused of pressurising other Indian batsmen

India allrounder Hardik Pandya was brutally slammed for his poor batting intent during the third T20I against England at Rajkot. Pandya played an unnatural knock of 40 off 35 balls which didn't quite help India's chances.

Former India cricketer Parthiv Patel was highly critical of Pandya's batting intent and claimed that he took too many balls to get used to the pitch. Parthiv feels that Pandya should have rotated the strike right from the start which could have helped the team.

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Parthiv Patel slams Hardik Pandya for poor batting intent

During a discussion on Star Sports, Parthiv Patel spoke about India's batting performance in Rajkot. He specifically mentioned Hardik Pandya's unusual knock that put unwanted pressure on him and his team.

"I thought when you are taking your time you want to get used to the pace and bounce of the pitch. But you cannot take 20-25 balls to get settled. So that put pressure on the other batters as well," Parthiv said.

Parthiv Patel feels that not rotating the strike added to India's woes as they struggled to keep up with the required run rate. According to him, the no. of dots went in to put a lot of pressure on the batters towards the end.

If you don't want to play those big shots, that's okay, but you still have to keep on rotating the strike. You can't play three or four dot balls in a row," Patel observed.

"And you might just see Hardik Pandya scoring 40 off 34 balls, but there are a number of dots in his innings that put pressure on the other batters as well. So, I think that's something that India can think of. You take your time. Yes, it's a low score, but you still have to keep rotating the strike as well with it," he added.

Hardik Pandya's unusual knock

Hardik Pandya came in to bat at No. 5 after India had lost Suryakumar Yadav for another low score. The required run rate was well under control at that point but Hardik seemed to go into the shell as India kept losing wickets at regular intervals.

The loss of wickets at the other end prompted Pandya not to take any risks. He hardly looked to attack in his first 20 balls and was batting on 14 off 21 balls at one point. In the end overs, he realized that he had no option other than to attack with the required run rate touching going high.

He smashed some eye-catching sixes off fast bowlers Mark Wood and Jofra Archer but was clearly not at his best, Hardik Pandya was finally dismissed by Jamie Overton off a slower ball for 40 it almost took away India's hopes as well. He struck 1 four and 2 sixes during his knock.

England make a strong comeback

Meanwhile, England came back strongly by winning the match. It was their first win of the tour after losing the first two matches earlier. Indian bowlers were on target again with Varun Chakravarthy leading the charge with a five-wicket haul.

But the visitors showed great batting intent to put up a respectable score on the board. In reply, India fell well short of the target thanks to some incredible bowling from England.

Jamie Overton and Brydon Carse picked up three and two wickets respectively while the legspinner Adil Rashid finished with a miserly spell of 1-a5 in four overs.