"You might call me old-fashioned" - Aakash Chopra says Hardik Pandya should have allowed Tilak Varma to score his fifty
Aakash Chopra believes Hardik Pandya should have allowed Tilak Varma to score a half-century in the third T20I between India and the West Indies on Tuesday, August 8.
The Windies set the Men in Blue a 160-run target in Providence, Guyana. Suryakumar Yadav (83 off 44) and Varma (49* off 37) starred for the visitors in the chase as they registered a seven-wicket win, with 13 deliveries to spare to reduce the deficit to 1-2 in the five-match series.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra praised Tilak Varma for playing an excellent knock and opined that he should have been allowed to score a second successive fifty. He stated:
"Tilak Varma played exceptionally well - outstanding. He became the first Indian to score more than 30 runs in each of his first three T20I innings. He scored a half-century in the last match and was very close to a half-century here as well."
The former Indian opener added:
"Honestly, he should have scored a half-century. I personally felt it was an opportunity to let Tilak score a fifty but he wasn't given that chance. It's just my opinion, you might call me old-fashioned."
Chopra lauded Varma for the wide range of shots and excellent temperament he exhibited. He was particularly appreciative of the youngster's willingness to play second fiddle to Suryakumar Yadav when his fellow Mumbai Indians batter was taking the attack to the Windies bowlers.
"He asked him not to get carried away and to finish the match" - Aakash Chopra on Hardik Pandya's advice to Tilak Varma
![Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma added 87 runs for the third wicket. [P/C: @TillakV9/Twitter]](https://statico.sportskeeda.com/editor/2023/08/339fd-16915605972702-1920.jpg?w=500)
Aakash Chopra pointed out that Hardik Pandya himself did not adhere to the advice he gave to Tilak Varma. He explained:
"Hardik came to bat and told him that he needs to remain not out. He asked him not to get carried away and to finish the match. But Hardik himself played a big shot and the ball fell in the middle. Then he hit another big shot and again it fell in the middle."
The renowned commentator highlighted that allowing Varma to reach a personal milestone wouldn't have compromised the team's interests. He elaborated:
"Neither you needed net run rate here nor would it have made any other difference. Hardik was telling him to play steadily and remain not out but was himself trying to play big shots."
"In the end, he (Varma) was only one run away and 14 balls were left. He (Hardik) could have taken a single and Tilak would have come on strike, because two runs were left, but he hit a straight six," he added.
Chopra concluded by acknowledging that the talk might be about building a culture in the team that individual milestones do not matter. However, he added that remaining unbeaten should also not matter in such a scenario as it wouldn't have made a difference had Varma gotten out when the game was virtually sealed.