WI vs IND: Hardik Pandya accepts blame after India lose decider against West Indies

India captain Hardik Pandya has accepted blame after his side lost the decider against West Indies on Florida on 13 August, Sunday. Playing at Lauderhill, India failed to defend a target of 166 runs in the final T20I of the 5-match series. After posting a below-par total, India were not able to contain Brandon King and Nicholas Pooran, who handled the majority of the workload in the second innings of the game.

WI vs IND, 5th T20I: Highlights

Speaking in the post-match presentation, Pandya said that he failed to deliver with the bat and that changed the complexion of the game, and tilted the scales towards West Indies in the final match of the series. Pandya batted 18 balls and got out after scoring just 14 runs in the 17th over of the game. He hit his first and only six in the 16th ball of his innings.

“If you see we lost that period post the ten overs. I came there, took my time, and was not able to capitalize. I think the boys played well but I failed to play accordingly at that point in time,” Hardik said after the match.

India did start brightly in the second innings with Arshdeep Singh picking up the wicket of opener Kyle Mayers, but that was about it as Windies dominated with the bat from there on. With rain looming around the corner throughout the second innings of the match, India captain Hardik Pandya tried to bowl out his pacers early in the game, a move that did not pay off at all.

Pandya did not bowl Axar Patel in the first 10 overs of the match with Nicholas Pooran in the crease, but that did not stop West Indies from dominating the proceedings. Both King and Pooran played out the main threat – Kuldeep Yadav watchfully and attacked the rest of the bowlers.

A lengthy delay broke the flow of the game in the 13th over. The restart saw Pooran getting dismissed by Tilak Varma, but returning Shai Hope was more than good enough to clinch a dominating victory in the decider.

“All these games are the games where you are going to challenge ourselves. In the hindsight, one series here and there is fine. It is a longer process which I don’t need to explain much. The boys are trying to commit themselves well and I think that is going well,” Hardik said about the long term plan.

“I mean it’s a long way now [the T20 World CUp 2024]. The next is the ODI world cup. Losing is good sometimes. It teaches you a lot of things. It does not cover up the messes,” the Indian captain said.

This was the first time that India lost a T20I series under the captaincy of Hardik Pandya. It was also the first time in 6 years that West Indies defeated India in a T20I series.