Hardik Pandya opens up about Ravindra Jadeja running him out in the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy final
What’s the story?
Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya has admitted that he was angry after he was run out in the final of the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy final against Pakistan. He also said that it didn’t take long for him to get over the dismissal that happened after a mix-up with his fellow all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja.
Speaking to PTI ahead of the fifth ODI against West Indies in Jamaica, Pandya quipped, “It took a lot of time. Only three minutes to be honest. It was just an outburst. I get hyper quickly and after few minutes I was laughing in the dressing room. Looking at me, some of the players were laughing too.”
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Chasing 338 to win, India looked favourites to chase it down in spite of it being a high-pressure chase as the Indian top-order was doing the job for the team throughout the tournament. But, pacer Mohammad Amir was breathing fire as the left-armer rattled the Indian top-three. He had Rohit Sharma plumb in front of the wicket in the very first over before accounting for the wickets of Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan in his first spell.
Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni and Kedar Jadhav couldn’t save the team as they fell cheaply. It was when Pandya took charge and gave some hope for the Indian fans. He was smashing the ball to all parts of the ground before he was run-out for 76 off 43 balls. Both Jadeja and Pandya took off for a single, but Jadeja turned his back on Pandya and both the ended up in the striker’s end with Pandya making the walk back to the pavilion.
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Jadeja could have easily sacrificed his wicket as Pandya was the batsman, who was dominating the opposition bowling. This left Pandya furious as he went back to the dressing room fuming. Jadeja was dismissed soon after as India lost the final by 180 runs.
Details
That knock could be the turning point of Hardik Pandya’s career as he showed the world that he could take up the finisher’s role for India in the future. Pandya has been making some useful contributions with the bat since the start of the series against England and batting like the way he batted in a high-pressure match shows his character.
He himself has conceded that he wants to take the responsibility of being a finisher. He also pointed out that he doesn’t see himself as a one-dimensional player, who goes after every ball, but instead, is looking forward to playing according to what the scoreboard demands.
Extra cover: Hardik Pandya ready to don the finisher's role
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Author’s Take?
One cannot blame Hardik Pandya for what he did after getting out as he had every right to do so. Jadeja should have sacrificed his wicket and let Pandya bat on. At the same time, it is good to know that Pandya has put the incident behind him. He should look to play similar innings for the Men in Blue in the future and make sure that he scores more runs than what he scored at the Oval.