“He told Tilak to go easy, but tried to hit big shots himself” :Aakash Chopra over Hardik Pandya’s six which denies Tilak Varma a half-century.

Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra has expressed his opinion that Hardik Pandya should have allowed young talent Tilak Varma to complete his half-century during the third T20I against West Indies in Guyana on August 8. Chopra mentioned that since Net Run Rate (NRR) wasn’t a concern and there were enough balls left, Pandya should have given Varma the chance to reach another fifty.

Aakash Chopra said “Hardik comes to bat, tells him it’s important to remain not out, don’t get carried away. Then Hardik hits aggressive hits… you don’t need NRR, it would’ve made no difference. He told Tilak to go easy, but tried to hit big shots himself. You needed 2 runs off 13 balls, and he smashed a six. I’m sure they want to build a culture that doesn’t care about individual milestones. But even a not out doesn’t really matter here, even if you were out there, you still had 12 balls there to score 2 runs. Tilak was denied a chance to score a fifty. That’s just my opinion, though.”

It’s worth noting that this T20I was a must-win game for India, who were trailing 0-2 in the five-match series. Despite the West Indies batters struggling to accelerate the scoring rate on a used pitch, Rovman Powell’s unbeaten 40 off 19 balls helped them reach 159/5 in 20 overs. Given the tricky surface and the early dismissals of openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill, the home team felt close to achieving a rare series win.

Varma contributed an unbeaten 49 off 37 balls, including four fours and a six. His partnership with Suryakumar Yadav, who scored a rapid 83 off 44 balls, played a vital role in India’s crucial victory.

Praising Varma Chopra said “Tilak Varma, outstanding. First Indian to get 30+ scores in his first three international innings. He scored a fifty in his previous games and was close to another this time too, in fact, it should’ve been a fifty. His temperament is good, his range is good, he was aggressive at first and then was happy to play second-fiddle to Suryakumar.”