Hardik Pandya faced an incredible amount of flak on social media after the all-rounder was not able to guide India to a win in the 3rd T20I of the 5-match series in Rajkot. Chasing a target of 172 runs, India lost the match by a decent margin of 26 runs, despite having a strong batting order.

Hardik played 35 balls in the innings but only scored 40 runs as India huffed and puffed in the chase. Fans were really furious with Pandya refusing singles to vice-captain Axar Patel and then to specialist finisher Dhruv Jurel.

Despite hogging the strike, Pandya was not able to provide the fireworks until very late in the innings. Hardik lit up in the final few balls of his innings, but many argued that Hardik’s MS Dhoni-esque method of batting was perhaps not suited to his skillset.

Hardik hit one 4 and 2 sixes in the innings and finished with 40 runs off 35 balls, with a strike-rate of 114.29.

IND vs ENG 3rd T20I: Highlights

Fans were not happy with Hardik’s bowling effort as well, as he gave away a major chunk of the runs while bowling with the new ball. England opener Ben Duckett was able to cut loose early in his innings as Hardik erred with his lines on Tuesday, January 28.

Hardik finished with 4-0-33-2 in his bowling innings, picking up the wickets of Phil Salt and Liam Livingstone. Speaking about Hardik’s innings after the match, former India cricketer Ambati Rayudu showed support for the all-rounder, despite the fans criticising him.

“I think it was a fine innings. It was a difficult wicket to bat on, but he paced his innings really well, though he was not able to provide the final flourish. If Hardik would have been there, he would have backed himself to chase down 25 runs in the final over,” Ambati Rayudu said on live broadcast.

On the day, India finished with 145 runs in the second innings in the game. Varun Chakravarthy was named the player of the match for his sensational 5-wicket-haul. The teams will now travel to Pune where the match is scheduled for January 31.