'Dekho sir, pinpoint nahi kar sakte' - Hardik Pandya defends Harshal Patel with a cheeky reply to journalist

The Indian bowlers have come under scrutiny for their poor performance against Australia in the opening T20I match on Tuesday. India put up a 208-run total while batting first at the Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium in Mohali. But the bowlers conceded 57 runs in the last 3.2 overs to concede a four-wicket defeat with four balls remaining.

Harshal Patel, who missed the 2022 Asia Cup tournament with an injury, conceded 49 runs without a wicket from his four-over spell. He gave away only six runs in the 16th over but went for 22 in the 18th over. Matthew Wade smashed two sixes and Tim David hit one in the 18th over which was a big turning point of the match.

Hardik Pandya, a hero with the bat, also conceded 22 runs in his two-over spell with no wicket. In the post match press conference, a journalist asked him where the match slipped away from India, where he replied,"I don't know." But when a journalist told him may be it was in the 18th over by Harshal, then Hardik said one shouldn't pinpoint.

"Aap batao, mujhe nahi pata, humko pata hota toh wahi nahi rok dete. (You tell me, I don't know. If we knew, we would have stopped them in the field)," Hardik replied to the journalist. 

Aur do matches hai usmein koshish karenge kuch accha karne ki: Hardik Pandya

The Indian bowlers have struggled to control the game in the death overs in the last few T20Is and this issue needs to be addressed by the team management ahead of the upcoming 2022 T20 World Cup. The star pacer Jasprit Bumrah was surprisingly rested for the first match and his absence clearly felt in the death overs.

He is likely to replace either of Harshal or Umesh Yadav for the next match which is scheduled in Nagpur on Friday (September 23). Hardik also pointed out that India have two more matches remaining and they will be trying to make a good comeback.

“Dekho sir, pinpoint nahi kar sakte. Unke time pe bhi ek over mein 24-25 run aye, usse kuch farak nahi padta. Bilateral series hai, aur do matches hai usmein koshish karenge kuch accha karne ki. (See, we can't pinpoint on any over, they also conceded more than 20 runs in an over. There are still two matches in the series, so we will make a comeback),” Hardik added.