Hardik sends strong message to India batters despite sensational 4th T20I win

Team India produced another fine performance on Saturday to force the five-match T20I series against West Indies into a decider, beating the hosts by 9 wickets in Lauderhill.

Chasing a 179-run target, Indian openers Shubman Gill (77) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (84*) forged a 165-run stand which sealed the game in the visiting side’s favour. Arshdeep Singh and Kuldeep Yadav were the pick of the bowlers, with the former taking three wickets for 38 while the spinner being significantly economical, bowling at merely 6.50 to register figures of 2/26.

Following the win, Hardik Pandya, the Indian skipper, was all praise for the star opening duo but also had a message for his batters. India’s performance with the bat left a lot to be desired across the 1st and 2nd T20I losses; in the opening game, the side faltered in a 150-run chase while could only score 152/7 in the second.

Hardik the imperative for the batting unit to shoulder greater responsibility moving forward. “Gill and Jaiswal were brilliant. There is no doubt over 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,” said Pandya after the match,” said the skipper.

Pandya was understandably elated by the team’s effort, acknowledging the side’s brilliant comeback in the T20I series.

“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 kinds of games show our character.

“The boys took it (defeats) in their stride. The two games (after the first two defeats) we played reflected that we pulled up our socks and played some good cricket,” he added.

Yashasvi Jaiswal was adjudged player of the match, and the left-hander said he batted as per the team’s needs. It was Jaiswal’s maiden fifty in the T20Is. He had also made a hundred on his Test debut against the West Indies on this tour. The final T20I of the series will be played on Sunday at the same venue, following which the T20I team – without Hardik – will take on Ireland in three T20Is. The series will see the return of Jasprit Bumrah to Indian team for the first time since September.