'Turtle' Hardik Pandya finds it 'exciting to go into third ODI' with series levelled
Hardik Pandya with Surya (L) in 1st ODI (Source: @BCCI)
India's stand-in skipper Hardik Pandya has said that his 'body is fine' and he only needs to up his workload to be able to bowl in the upcoming ICC ODI World Cup. Pandya made the comments after India's loss in the second ODI against West Indies in Barbados.
“My body is fine. I have to bowl more overs and get my workload up for the World Cup. I’m a turtle right now not the rabbit and hoping everything goes right as the World Cup comes on,” said Pandya who bowled 6.4 overs in the match for 38 runs and no wickets.
Also Read:'Running out of time,' says coach Rahul Dravid after India's loss against West Indies in second ODI
India's performance was below par in the game as they bundled out for a mere 181 runs in 40.5 overs. Notably, India had rested Virat Kohli and skipper Rohit Sharma for the match. Coach Rahul Dravid termed resting his two best batters as an 'experiment to find answers' due to injuries to key players namely Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer.
Pandya, however, thinks it's exciting to go 1-1 in the third game as it'll be 'more challenging.'
“To be honest, you want to be going 1-1 to the third game as it’ll be more challenging and exciting. They will be tested, we will be tested now that the series stands 1-1. The next game will be exciting for the viewers as well as the players,” he said.
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The stand-in skipper although, acknowledged the batting failure, saying the batters didn't bat as they were supposed to.
“We didn’t bat the way we were supposed to. The wicket was better than it was in the first game. Everyone barring Shubman (Gill) hit fielders and got out. Disappointing but many things to learn,” said Pandya, who himself scored 7 off 14 balls.
India, whowon the first game, will now face West Indies in the third and final ODI of the series on August 1. The home side wonthe second ODI by six wickets. This was also West Indies' first ODI win against India in four years.
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