Hardik Pandya leaves behind R Ashwin and Jasprit Bumrah in elite T20I wickets tally

Hardik Pandya. (Photo Source: RANDY BROOKS/AFP via Getty Images)

Hardik Pandya got the unwanted record of becoming the first Indian captain to lose two consecutive T20Is against West Indies since 2016 after India’s loss by two wickets on Sunday, August 07. The Indian team failed to defend the target of 153 in the second T20I at Providence Stadium, Guyana as West Indies’ tail guided 26 runs for the ninth wicket to take their team home.

The Indian skipper was the pick of the bowlers for his side with figures of 3/35 in his four-over spell. Pandya started the proceedings by dismissing Brandon King for a golden duck on the first ball of the innings. The 29-year-old further dismissed Johnson Charles in the same over for 2 to get his side off to a rollicking start. He further returned in the tenth over to dismiss his counterpart Rovman Powell for 21.

With his three-wicket haul, Pandya jumped three places to take the third spot on the list of the highest wicket-takers for India in T20Is. The all-rounder left behind Jasprit Bumrah (70 wickets), and Ravichandran Ashwin (72 wickets) to take the third spot on the list with 73 wickets to his name from 89 matches at an average of 25.83 and an economy of 8.13.

Pandya is now only behind Yuzvendra Chahal (95 wickets) and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (90) who take the first and the second spot respectively. Furthermore, he also became the first Indian player to score over 4000 runs and pick 150 wickets in T20 cricket. The Gujarat-born cricketer now has 152 wickets and 4245 runs in T20 cricket. He made his T20I debut for India way back on January, 2016 vs Australia in Adelaide.

Coming back to the match, Pandya felt that India were 10-20 runs short in the first innings and asked batters to take more responsibility. Notably, India scored 152/7 with Tilak Varma top scoring with 51 (41) in just his second international game.

That was not a pleasing batting performance: Hardik Pandya

“If I am being honest that was not a pleasing batting performance. The wickets were falling and the track was on the slower side. We could have batted better. 160 plus or 170 would have been a good total. Batters need to take more responsibility,” Pandya said at the post-match presentation.

Being 0-2 behind in the five-match series, India have the last chance to make a comeback in the third T20I on Tuesday, August 08 at Providence Stadium, Guyana.