Talisman India all-rounder Hardik Pandya The first T20I against England in Southampton on Thursday was a dream come true as he claimed four wickets and a half-century as India beat England by 50 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series Had taken After his impressive performance with bat and ball, India continued to maintain his bowling performance beyond the batting innings.
For his excellent performance with bat and ball, @HardikPandya7 Player of the match has been selected #teamindia Won the first T20 match by 50 runs.
Take a 1-0 lead in the series.
scorecard – https://t.co/Xq3B0KTRD1 #Engwind pic.twitter.com/oEavD7CONZ—BCCI (@BCCI) 7 July 2022
“I will give equal importance to my batting and bowling today. That 50 was also important because we lost wickets, but we kept the pace and we got to good scores,” Hardik said at the post-match press conference. “But the bowling will get more credit because that spell got us into the game and made it difficult for England to stay in the game,” he added.
The all-rounder also said that he is not thinking much about his future as he is currently concentrating on his game for Team India. “Obviously, right now I am not thinking much about what I will play in the future and all that. Right now, I am focusing on more and more games, I am available for India, that would be my intention. And talking about today’s performance, obviously, it’s always good to perform when your team needs it and when your team wins.”
“For me, it was easy, doing what my team wanted and doing what I know. I believe hard work pays off, my point is to prepare well, but the result is not in my control Right now, everything is shutting down, today is a good day, and tomorrow could be bad. So, you don’t know, it’s all about working hard, life goes on.”
Debutant Arshdeep Singh and spinner Yuzvendra Chahal took two wickets each, while Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Harshal Patel took a wicket each to restrict England to 148. “We as a team, it’s a lot of confidence booster. We don’t have five regular players, and they will be included so the team will be better. The newcomers are expressing themselves, India’s bench strength is increasing and it seems There has been a change in the culture,” said the all-rounder.
“You talked about batting, it’s a conscious effort, credit goes to Rahul Dravid and the management, he said do one thing and just express yourself. When there’s so much clarity, it’s a big confidence booster.” When we are out, while hitting a shot, we don’t think oh no, which shot we have played. So, the credit goes to the coaches,” he said.
Talking about the match, Hardik Pandya’s all-round performance took India’s total to 198/8 in the first innings. Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav and Deepak Hooda also scored 24, 39 and 33 runs respectively. For England, Moeen Ali and Chris Jordan took two wickets each, while Topley, Tymal Mills and Parkinson took one wicket each.
Later, debutant Arshdeep Singh and spinner Yuzvendra Chahal took two wickets each while Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Harshal Patel took a wicket each to restrict England to 148. Among the batsmen, Moeen Ali and Chris Jordan scored 36 and 26* respectively. ,
Both the teams will meet for the second T20 match in Birmingham on Saturday.