Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya (AP Image)
Hardik Pandya thanked batting maestro Virat Kohli for his advice which helped him regain his batting form in ODIs.
Stand-in India captain Hardik Pandya revealed that he had a chat with former skipper Virat Kohli before the third ODI which helped him score crucial runs for his side in the series decider. Pandya, who failed to score big in the first two matches, smashed an unbeaten 70 runs off 52 balls to help India post a mammoth 351/5 while batting first at Brian Lara Stadium, Trinidad.
Pandya took his time before unleashing on the hosts’ bowling attack in the slog overs to help India cross the 350-run mark in the series decider after the team’s below-par batting performances in the first two ODIs.
He said that Kohli told him to take his time in the middle and get used to the ODI format for scoring big runs.
“I took it deep intentionally, wanted to have some time out in the middle. Had a great chat with Virat before the game, he wanted me to spend some time out in the middle and get used to the 50-over format,” Hardik said in the post-match presentation.
Hardik announced his arrival with a picturesque off-drive and a straight six off Cariah was equally eye-pleasing. Hardik and Suryakumar added 65 runs in 8.1 overs for the fifth wicket but the latter will only have himself to blame or not making most of the opportunities.
The stand-in skipper thanked batting maestro Kohli for his advice which helped him regain his form.
“Really thankful for him to share that experience with me. Once you hit one ball and get into rhythm things are very different. The ball was doing just a bit. Scoring 350 was always crucial,” he added.
Apart from Pandya, other major contributions came from the bats of  Ishan Kishan (77), Shubman Gill (85) and Sanju Samson (51).
In response, the West Indies collapsed to 50 for six before being all out for 151 in 35.3 overs. Shardul Thakur claimed four wickets while Mukesh Kumar picked three scalps for the visitors.
It was the second game in a row where Skipper Rohit Sharma and Kohli opted out to give World Cup hopefuls a fair go. However, it doesn’t answer many questions as this West Indies team is struggling itself and India look far from settled.
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