‘Lagta hai bohot seekhna baaki hai’ – Fans react as Hardik Pandya calls defeat in second WI vs IND T20I ‘learning process’

Team India lost the second T20I against West Indies by two wickets as they conceded a 2-0 lead to the hosts in the five-match T20I series. Led by Tilak Varma’s 51 off 41, including five fours and a six, the visitors reached 152/7 in 20 overs. Opener Ishan Kishan with 27 off 23, including two fours and two sixes, and skipper Hardik Pandya with 24 off 18, including two sixes were the only other Indian batter to surpass the 20-run mark. As far as West Indies’ bowling is concerned, Akeal Hosein, Alzarri Joseph, and Romario Shephard returned with two wickets each.

In reply, the hosts chased the target with seven balls to spare. Wicketkeeper batter Nicholas Pooran with 67 off 40, including six fours and four sixes remained the star of the show. He was awarded the ‘Player of the Match’ for his heroics. Skipper Hardik Pandya returned with the best figures of 3/35 in four overs. Yuzvendra Chahal followed closely with 2/19 in three overs. At the same time, Arshdeep Singh and Mukesh Kumar returned with one wicket each.

‘It is a learning process which is fine’ – Hardik Pandya in the post-match presentation

Following the game, skipper Hardik Pandya spoke at length at the post-match presentation. “If am being honest that was not a pleasing batting performance, we could have batted better,” the Indian skipper said. “160+ or 170 would have been a good total. The way he (Tilak Varma) has been batting, becomes very difficult to rotate spinners. 2/2 and the way he batted, took the game quite into their hands.

“With the current combination we have we will have to trust our top 7 batters to come good and hope the bowlers win you games. We have to find ways to make sure we have the right balance but at the same time, batters need to take more responsibility. Left-hander coming at 4 gives us variety. It doesn’t feel like it’s his second international game. Going forward we will keep getting better. It is a learning process which is fine,” he added.

Here’s how fans reacted: