India all-rounder Hardik Pandya was criticized for consuming too many deliveries to settle into the game while the team chases down the runs on Tuesday night after the third T20I. Pandya had come into the middle order towards the final over of the Powerplay after skipper Suryakumar Yadav’s fall but could not get into a rhythm, failing to rotate the strike or find the boundaries at an important juncture.

India had to strive hard for 172. They could only make 145/9 in Rajkot. Pandya at one point was batting on 14 off 21 balls and was unable to make much of an impact on the score board. It took him the first boundary of the match, but he and Axar Patel were not coming good at the last overs as the score required was increasing. Pandya’s final score was 40 off 35 balls, a knock that left many questioning his ability to accelerate when needed.
Former India wicketkeeper-batter Parthiv Patel weighed in on Pandya’s approach, saying it is acceptable for a batter to take time to settle in but criticizing the excessive number of deliveries Pandya consumed, which put added pressure on the other batters.
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I understand that when you are taking your time, you want to get used to the pace and bounce of the pitch. But you can’t afford to take 20-25 balls to settle. That puts pressure on the batters around you,” Parthiv Patel said on Star Sports. “If you’re not playing the big shots, that’s fine, but you still need to rotate the strike. You cannot afford to play three or four dot balls in succession.”

Patel said Pandya’s 40 off 35 balls was not a bad score in isolation but the many dot balls in his innings had a negative impact on the team’s chase.
“We’ve seen Hardik Pandya scoring 40 off 35 balls but it’s the number of dot balls that put pressure on the others. India needs to think about this—taking your time is one thing, but you have to keep rotating the strike,” he added.
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Patel also targeted the Indian team management for choosing the left-right batting combination and stated that Dhruv Jurel could have been sent up the order so that he got enough time to make a significant innings.
“The left-right combination is fine until No. 4, but after that, you need to send your best batters. Jurel is a proper batsman, and he could have played a big innings,” Parthiv Patel concluded.