
Hardik Pandya won her first T20I series as the captain of the Indian team as the Men in Blue defeated Ireland by 4 runs in the final 2nd T20I at The Village in Dublin on Tuesday (June 28). It was a thrilling encounter between the two sides as Ireland came close to chasing down the target of 226 runs but eventually fell short in the end. Umran Malik went on to defend 17 runs in the final over to help India save the game and seal the two-match series 2-0.
It was a memorable debut series for Pandya as captain of the Indian team with the Men in Blue clean sweeping Ireland 2-0. However, Pandya found himself in the middle of another controversy after a video went viral on social media from the 2nd T20I where the Indian skipper can be seen abusing his teammates after a failed review.
The incident happened during the 11th over of Ireland's run-chase when Harshal Patel bowled a slower delivery to Lorcan Tucker which hit him on the pads. There was a clear run-out chance after Tucker tried stealing a single but Indian wicket-keeper Ishan Kishan missed the opportunity before he and Harshal convinced Pandya to take a review for LBW. However, the replays showed the impact was outside off as Tucker survived.
India had earlier lost their first review in the game and Pandya was left frustrated after losing their second one as he was heard using a cuss word for his teammates Kishan and Patel after the unsuccessful DRS call. The video of the incident went viral with many criticising Pandya for his choice of words.
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Talking about the game, Deepak Hood continued his purple patch as an opener and notched up his maiden T20I century enroute to a brilliant knock of 104 runs while Sanju Samson smashed 74 runs off 42 balls to help India post a strong total of 225 runs against Ireland.
Captain Andrew Balbirnie led the charge for Ireland during the run-chase as he slammed a quickfire 37-ball 60 while the likes of Pau Stirling (40), Harry Tector (39) and George Dockrell (34) played crucial knocks to take the hosts close to the finishing line. However, India held there nerves to defend the total and bag their second win on the trot to secure a 2-0 win.