WI vs IND: Hardik Pandya lauds Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill after series-levelling win in 4th T20I

India celebrated a resounding victory against the West Indies in the fourth T20I match of the series on 12 August, Saturday. India chased down 179 runs at Lauderhill, Florida, guided by incredible knocks from Yashavi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill.

The India openers – Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill, took center stage in the second innings of the match. Their stellar performance helped India secure a 9-wicket victory with 18 balls remaining in the game.

WI vs IND, 4th T20I: Highlights

India captain Hardi Pandya lauded the young openers and called them brilliant. Pandya said that there was no doubting the skill-set of both players, just that they needed to spend some time in the crease.

“Brilliant. As we’ve seen, there’s no doubt in their skillset. They just needed to spend some time between the wickets. Going forward we have to take more responsibility as a batting group and support the bowlers. I’ve always believed bowlers win matches. Yashasvi and Shubman were brilliant. Very pleasing to see,” Pandya said in the post-match presentation ceremony.

India drew the series level in the fourth T20I match and now will play the decider on Sunday, 13 August. If India manage to win the fifth match, this will be the first time that a team will overturn a 0-2 deficit and win a bilateral T20I series. Speaking about the losses in the first two matches, Pandya said that it was of their own doing and that the Indian team showed character to get back in the series.

“Yes we lost two games but in the first game it was our own errors. We were cruising and in the last four overs we slipped. We spoke about how these kind of games show our character and the boys took it in their stride,” Pandya said about the losses.

“The two games we played reflected that we pull up our socks and we make sure to play some good cricket. In T20 cricket no one’s favourites. You have to turn up and play good cricket. You have to respect the opposition. They were 2-0 up because they played better cricket than us,” Pandya concluded after the match.