'He said it, he did it': Hardik's 'okay to be unique' remark haunts back as India hit 17-year low in WI series loss
The last time they had defeated India was in 2006, in an ODI contest, with a 4-1 score line. Incidentally, Dravid was the skipper of that 2006 side.
In the absence of some of the big names in Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, the Hardik Pandya-led Team India, despite their shortcomings, stood on the verge of a historic come-from-behind win. No team in the history of T20Is has ever bounced back from 0-2 down in a bilateral series of at least five matches to claim a victory. But all the hopes came crashing down on Sunday evening as the Men in Blue were delivered a knockout blow at the Central Broward Regional Park Stadium Turf Ground, Lauderhill, Florida in the fifth and final T20I series against West Indies. Brandon King and Nicholas Pooran singled-handedly killed off the chase of 166 with Shai Hope providing the finishing touches as India suffered hit a 17-year low with a 2-3 T20I series defeat.
India never had enough runs on the board. And if it hadn't been for Suryakumar Yadav and his second successive half-century knock, the tourists wouldn't have even managed to set that target of 166. However, Arshdeep Singh did hand India an early breakthrough, but a crucial change in tactic from West Indies left Hardik clueless.
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Nicholas Pooran promoted himself to No.3 in the line-up on Sunday which forced Hardik to change his plans, but none of them seemed to work. Not even Kuldeep Yadav, who was the best bowler on Sunday and had dismissed Pooran twice in the last two games, managed to get rid of the southpaw.
Combining with opener Brandon King, Pooran stitched a 107-run stand for the second wicket which shot down all hopes for the Indian attack. Hope later added the finishing touches as West Indies wrapped up the chase with 12 balls to spare.
It was West Indies' first ever bilateral series (minimum 3 matches) win against India in 17 years. The last time they had defeated India was in 2006, in an ODI contest, with a 4-1 score line. Incidentally, present India head coach Rahul Dravid was the skipper of that 2006 side.
As India hit their ultimate low with the shocking series defeat in Florida, captain Hardik was served a brutal reminder over his own remark during the ODI series against West Indies. When Hardik had walked out for toss in the final ODI match with the series on the line, in absence of regular captain Rohit, veteran Windies bowler and presenter Samuel Badree asked what it would imply if he failed to continue India's winning streak against West Indies in bilateral ODI series and the stand-in skipper had replied saying: “It's okay. I like to be unique.”
Here are some of the reactions…
Hardik Pandya unfazed over shock series loss
Despite the painful loss in the T20I contest against West Indies, a side that failed to make the Super 12 of the T20 World Cup last year and did not qualify for the ODI World Cup this year, Hardik showed no signs of concern as a captain during his post-match interaction and rather stressed on the fact that the team has enough time to figure out their perfect squad for the World T20 next year.
"I believe we gonna challenge ourselves. We try to get better. In hindsight, it is fine. We don't need to explain much. I know how the boys are within the group. We have enough time to figure out. Losing is good at times," he said.
