India won their 1st T20I match against Sri Lanka in a final ball thriller. Captain Hardik Pandya gave a small injury scare in the second innings of the match when the hosts were bowling.
In Short
- Hardik Pandya is leading India in the T20I series
- The Indian captain did not look comfortable while bowling in the third over
- Hardik Pandya was helped by his teammates after he cramped up
PosterGuy: India captain Hardik Pandya gave a small injury in the 1st T20I match against South Africa in the three-match series, when he did not look comfortable while bowling his third over. Pandya, constantly tried to touch his back and it looked like something had ben bothering him. The India captain brought back memories of his horrible injury, which made the commentators wonder if the player had tweaked something in the similar region.
The Indian captain came later in the post match presentation and confirmed that there was nothing major and he was just cramping up due to lack of water.
“Now I have tendency to scare people but if I am smiling then everything is fine. I did not sleep well, did not drink enough water and hence the glutes were stiff,” Pandya said.
The final over of the game was bowled by Axar Patel who defended 13 runs in the final over. Axar had been hit for 8 runs in his first three balls, but managed to hold his nerve. Pandya later said that this was a great way to put themselves in difficult situations and learn from the bilateral ties.
“I want to put this team in difficult situations because it will help us in big games (on Axar bowling the last over). Bilaterals we are very good at and this is how we are going to challenge ourselves,” Pandya said.
The India captain hailed the youngsters in the team, especially Shivam Mavi and said that they just needed to back themselves and not be scared of failure.
“To be honest, all the young guns got us out of the situation today. The conversation was very simple, I have seen him (Mavi) bowl well in the IPL and I know what are his strengths, just back yourself and don’t worry about getting hit,” Pandya concluded.
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