Former Indian star slams Hardik Pandya for selfish tactics during 2nd T20I against South Africa

Former Indian star RP Singh has slammed Hardik Pandya for his tactics during the second T20I on Sunday. The 31-year-old was seen refusing the strike to Arshdeep Singh during the game in Gqeberha which India went on to lose. This move not only irked the fans but also former Indian star RP Singh. 

India’s former left-arm seamer while speaking to Jio Cinema said “The score should have been higher, but Hardik refused to take singles. You have to trust tailenders as they can also contribute. With India struggling with the bat, the addition of a few more runs would have been great”

The men in blue could muster only 124 on the board as Pandya was not out on 39. Varun Chakravarthy picked 5/17 from his 4 overs. It wasn’t enough as South Africa thanks to Tristan Stubbs won the game with three wickets and an over left. 

RP Singh slams Hardik Pandya for not rotating strike 

During the course of his chat with Jio Cinema, RP Singh also said, “Arshdeep Singh had already hit a six, and when there are not many balls left, you have to make every scoring opportunity count. I think Hardik missed a chance over here,”

South African bowlers were at their best in the last five overs as they conceded just 38 runs. At one stage the home team were placed at 86/7 still needing 39 runs to win from 26 balls. Gerald Coetzee and Tristan Stubbs then added 42 runs for the 8th wicket in 20 balls to help their side win the game with ease. 

Former Pakistan batter Basit Ali also Pandya on his YouTube channel and said “Pandya saab not out rahe, 39 off 45 balls, total apne le liye khele. Apne liye kyu khele? Kuyki mujhe lagta hai ki IPL and Mumbai Indians ki tayari kar rahe hai”

The former Pakistani star also added “It painted a very sorry picture the way he was playing. He wasn’t taking singles also, even though Arshdeep Singh had hit a six. India were not nine down that he was denying singles, they were just six down, he should have taken the singles”