Bipin Dani
Team India’s T-20I captain Hardik Pandya is in the news for two reasons — for what is being described as poor captaincy, and his expression of dissatisfaction with facilities provided during the Windies tour.
The team lost first both opening T-20 matches against the West Indies, though the 3rd one was won and kept the series hope alive. The captain is facing massive flak not only from his fans but from former players too, for not giving a fourth over to the ace googly bowler Yuzvendra Chahal, who not only took two wickets in three overs but brought the Men in Blue back into the game in the 2nd match.
“Chahal was the best Indian spinner…his third over (16th) spun the match in India’s favour. He should’ve bowled a fourth over— ideally, the18th, and if not that,definitely 19th,” c o m m e n t a t o r A a k a s h Chopra said on social media.
Former all-rounder Irfan Pathan echoed the view, saying, “Baffling to me that Chahal didn’t finish his quota of 4 overs in both the games.” On the other hand, Hardik criticised the Cricket West Indies (CWI) Board for not providing the basic necessities to his team, though he didn’t elaborate on his dissatisfaction.
Lack of quality food was the main issue during the ongoing West Indies tour. It is learnt that the players didn’t get the food they had asked to be served in the dressing room especially during game days.
“The standard of food wasn’t up to the mark and other players too were upset about it,”according to a source in the Indian board.India won the three-match ODI series 2-1 and Pandya expressed his dissatisfaction with the facilities after that. Pandya looked upset during the presentation ceremony too.
“This was one of the nicest grounds we have played on. Things can be better when we come to the West Indies next time….Last year also, some hiccups happened. I think it’s time for West Indies Cricket to take note of it. We don’t ask for luxury but we need some basic necessities taken care of. Other than that, I really enjoyed coming here and playing some good cricket,” Pandya said at the presentation event. Despite repeated attempts to get a response, the Windies cricket board was tight-lipped.
