Hardik Pandya led Men in Blue won the third and final T20I against New Zealand in Ahmedabad and also sealed the series by 2-1. As a player, Hardik has not done anything extraordinary but then as a skipper, he made crucial contributions. Even as a bowler, he bowled brilliantly in the powerplay. As a skipper, Hardik has led India in four T20I series now and he has won all of them.
“I have got a very simple rule about my life and captaincy: if I go down, I will go down on my decisions. So at the end of the day, I take calls on my own because I like to take ownership. When I played the IPL final, I felt the second innings was spicier. We want to normalise these pressure games, and hopefully, we can do better at bigger stages,” he said at the post-match presentation.
Captain @hardikpandya93 collects the @mastercardindia trophy from BCCI president Mr. Roger Binny & BCCI Honorary Secretary Mr. Jay Shah 👏👏
Congratulations to #TeamIndia who clinch the #INDvNZ T20I series 2️⃣-1️⃣ @JayShah pic.twitter.com/WLbCE417QU
— BCCI (@BCCI) February 1, 2023
When Pandya took the trophy, he immediately handed it over to young Prithvi Shaw who did not even get a game in the series. The Mumbai-based batter was elated when he took the trophy and also posed for photographs.
Talking about the match, dashing opener Shubman Gill scored an unbeaten 126 off 63 balls and powered India to 234-4. In reply, the Black Caps’ batters were restricted to just 66 in 12.1 overs.
“I was backing myself to get the big ones even in one-days and T20s, unfortunately, it didn’t happen for me in the Sri Lanka series,” said the 23-year-old Gill.
“When you are representing your country, I don’t think there is any kind of fatigue. I always wanted to play for India and being fortunate enough to play all three formats, it is a blessing”, he added.
