‘I don’t believe 50s should be recorded in individual stats’ – Harsha Bhogle rubbishes discussions around Tilak Varma missing his fifty in 3rd T20I against WI

Indian cricket team won the 3rd match of the ongoing 5-match T20I series against West Indies on Tuesday, August 8 at the Providence Stadium. The Men in Blue displayed an all-round performance and defeated the Caribbean side by 7 wickets. However, the Windies are still ahead in the series with a lead of 2-1.

Meanwhile, veteran Indian commentator Harsha Bhogle recently shared his thoughts on the discussion going on social media about Indian skipper Hardik Pandya denying Tilak Varma’s half-century during the 3rd T20I. Bhogle took to Twitter and said that scoring a half-century in the T20I format isn’t an achievement as scoring run quickly is all that matters in the shortest format.

“I am puzzled by the discussion around Tilak Varma missing out on a 50. It isn’t a landmark, in fact, other than a century (which is rare), there are no landmarks in T20 cricket. We are far too obsessed with individual achievement within a team sport. I don’t believe the 50s should be recorded in individual stats in T20 cricket. If you have made enough runs quickly enough (avg and SR), that is all that matters.” Bhogle wrote on Twitter.

A brilliant all-round performance by India

Talking about the match, batting first, West Indies scored 159 runs in the first innings with the help of skipper Rovman Powell’s brilliant 40-run knock-off in just 19 balls. Kuldeep Yadav was the star with the ball for India as he picked up 3 wickets and conceded only 28 runs in his 4 overs quota.

Chasing the target, Suryakumar Yadav smashed 83 runs while Varma remained unbeaten on 49 runs and helped the team to clinch a convincing victory. Skipper Pandya talked about the match in the post-match presentation and said that 2 losses or 2 wins don’t change their long-term plans.

“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” Pandya said after the game.