Former India fast bowler, Ashish Nehra took a dig at Hardik Pandya for deciding to not give the strike back to Dinesh Karthik in the final over of India’s innings in the first T20I against South Africa in Delhi. Hardik denied a single in the penultimate delivery of the final over. Hardik, who was India’s deputy skipper in the first T20I of a 5-match series, hit 31 from just 12 deliveries in a stunning late overs assault, but he only managed to score a couple of runs after denying a strike to Karthik in the previous delivery.
Dinesh Karthik, who had made his comeback in Indian colors after a gap of 3 years, got to face only 2 deliveries as he walked into bat only in the final over of the innings after Rishabh Pant, the stand-in skipper, got out in the first delivery of that over. During an interaction on Cricbuzz, Ashish Nehra said, “He should have taken a single in that final over. Dinesh Karthik was at the other end, it wasn’t me.”
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Furthermore, the Gujarat Titans head coach showered praise on Hardik for acing the finisher’s role for India in T20 cricket. Notably, it was Hardik’s first match for India after the T20 World Cup as the all-rounder had taken a break to recover from long-standing back injury issues.
Describing the same, Ashish Nehra said, “Hardik Pandya is such an actor that can play any role. Be it, a hero, or a villain. If you want him to play the heroine, he can do that also, because he has the ability and the game to bat in any situation. Not just in T20I cricket but also in 50-over format and Test cricket.”
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He further explained, “He has incredible ability in his batting. He can score runs in No. 4 and No. 3 as well. Hardik Pandya has played this finisher’s role for a long time. He can bat anywhere because of his ability and the work he has done.”
India’s effort with the bat went in vain as South Africa chased down a 212=run target with 5 deliveries to spare, thereby ending the Asian giants’ 12-match-winning run in T20I cricket.
