India Vs West Indies: In T20 cricket, no one’s favourite: Hardik Pandya | Cricket News

NEW DELHI: India came back from 0-2 down to level the five-match series 2-2 against West Indies with an emphatic nine-wicket victory in the fourth T20I at Lauderhill, Florida on Saturday. The momentum is with them, but skipper Hardik Pandya refused to call themselves as favourites going into the final T20I at the same venue on Sunday.

“In T20 cricket, no one’s favourite. You got to respect the opposition. Tomorrow we turn up and do exactly what we did today,” Hardik said at the post-match presentation.
As it happened: India vs West Indies, 4th T20I

Hardik was all praise for young India openers Shubman Gill (84 not out off 51 balls) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (77 off 47), who destroyed the West Indies attack in a competitive chase of 179-run target. The duo added a record 165 runs, joint most in the shortest format for India for the opening wicket, as they chased down the target in 17 overs.
“Shubman and Yashasvi were brilliant. The way they ran in the heat … and … they finished the job. There is no doubt in their skill set. Going forward, we’ll have to take responsibility as batters and help our bowlers,” the elated captain said.

Regarding his captaincy, Hardik said: “I like to captain how I see the game. I like to go with my instincts. It was our own error in the first game. We didn’t do much different in the next two games. All these games give us a lot of confidence. We had to pull up our socks and play good cricket, that’s exactly what the boys did.”
Hardik also acknowledged the support his team got in Florida.
“There are more Indians here. The way they have been supporting, they make sure that we give them some entertainment,” Hardik said.

West Indies captain Rovman Powell said that they were short by 10-15 runs on this good batting surface.
“It’s a pretty good batting surface. We were maybe 10-15 runs short. Having said that, Hetmyer and Hope played well. We didn’t stick to our plans, you’ll always find yourself under pressure against quality batters. We didn’t bat well in the middle overs. If we can improve against spin, we can do well. It’s 2-2, tomorrow is the final and in the final, I back the West Indies. I am okay and ready to lead the side tomorrow,” Powell said after the match.