Hyderabad: Team India's failure to capitalise the home advantage during its match against West indies in the recently-concluded T20I series has shift the focus back to some 'slipshod decisions' at some crucial junctures of the match that could well have been in home team's kitty.
His ex-colleague and wicketkeeper batter Parthiv Patel feels Hardik must rediscover himself before going to the World Cup which begins on October 5. After some scintillating display by Team India during the levelling 2-2 in the fourth T20I, fans waited with bated breath until Brandon King's swashbuckling unbeaten knock of 85 took the game away form India on Sunday. West Indies eight-wicket win over India in the series-deciding fifth T20I also threw some questions over the some decisions of skipper Hardik Pandya.
For West the target of 166 to win for the final game, in Lauderhill, Florida, was not at all easy but poor display cost India dear in the penultimate overs. Thanks to Nicholas Pooran's cameo of 47 in a partnership of 107 with King. The win was a morale-booster for West Indies cricket after the one-day team failed, last month, to qualify for the World Cup for the first time in their history.
Naturally, the defeat for Team India from a team which could not get ticket for the cricket's biggest state exposed flaws in the Indian team's strategy and the captaincy of Hardik. His ex-colleague Parthiv Patel feels that Hardik could have used his bowlers better against the Caribbean side.
According to the former wicketkeeper-batter, Hardik Pandya's decision to give the ball over to Axar Patel instead of Yuzvendra Chahal was a wrong one. Parthiv also did not like bowling changes and the utilisation of the bowlers by Hardik. On Individual front, Hardik as a batsmen also failed to impress in the series against West Indies. Out of three ODIs and five T20Is, Hardik batted in seven games but managed only one half-century which came in the 50-over format. He looked off colour in the T20Is.
Hardik's poor form with the bat in the IPL, in the last couple of series for India remain a matter of concern for the team. The team banks banks hifhly on Pandya in the high-stake World Cup. According to Patel, Hardik's form is crucial for Team India's performance in the World Cup.
