India lost to Pakistan in the final of the ICC Champions Trophy, but what really got the fans crying foul was how Hardik Pandya was runout, when he was batting with Ravindra Jadeja. Pakistan had scored 338 on a good batting wicket, with Fakhar Zaman getting to a well-deserved 100. When the Indian chase began, they started losing early wickets and were soon looking down the barrel. They lost Rohit Sharma in the first over and soon Virat Kohli departed. But that is when Hardik Pandya walked into the crease when the score was 78 for 6. He then played a blinder to bring India back in the game of sorts, he was batting with Ravindra Jadeja on the other end. Pandya was dealing in sixes. But that is when a terrible mix up with Jadeja, led to his downfall. replays showed Jadeja was ball-watching, whereas Pandya had already reached the other end. Pandya was given out and that was the last nail in the coffin.
The nation was fuming at Jadeja’s blemish. The fans believed Pandya could have won it for India but that was not to be. Pandya was out for 76 off just 46 balls. His innings comprised of six sixes.
So, Pandya has finally opened up on what exactly transpired after the wicket fell. Speaking to PTI ahead of the fifth ODI against West Indies in Jamaica, Pandya quipped, “It took a lot of time. Only three minutes to be honest. It was just an outburst. I get hyper quickly and after few minutes I was laughing in the dressing room. Looking at me, some of the players were laughing too.”
Bottomline: One cannot blame Jadeja for the mis-judgement but he could have shown the presence of mind to sacrifice his wicket considering Pandya was on song. It is also heart-warming to know that Pandya has put this incident behind him as he has a long career ahead of him.
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