Hardik Pandya's men succumbed to Sri Lanka by 16 runs in the second T20I at the MCA stadium in Pune on Thursday (January 5). The defeat pushed the three-match series to decider which will be played at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Cricket Stadium in Rajkot on Saturday (January 6).
Pandya, who is leading the Indian pack in absence of regular skipper Rohit Sharma, weird gesture during the match invited indian cricket fans' wrath as the stand-in Indian captain was seen shaking hands with his teammates even before the match got over. The match went down to wire but Sri Lanka succeeded in taming Axar Patel and Shivam Mavi's blitzkrieg and at last India needed 17 balls off the final ball of the 20th over.
Videos and photos of Hardik walking up to Jitesh Sharma, the fielding coach T Dilip, and Shubman Gill and shaking their hands one by one with the match still going on went viral and caused a stir on social media where fans were seen bashing Hardik left, right and centre.
One of the Twitter user wrote, “Hardik disrespected the game of cricket by doing this. @BCCI needs to talk to him regarding this.”
While, another user wrote," It was really a strange behaviour. Never saw this before."
The reactions didn't seem to end henceforth as the indian cricket fans went after Pandya.
Batting first, Sri Lanka posted a challenging 207-run target for Team India to chase. In reply, Indian top order misfired but Suryakumar Yadav and Axar Patel took up the mantle and launched a blitzkrieg. While Surya contributed with 51 off 36, Axar blasted 65 off 31 to keep India alive in the chase. Soon after Surya perished which brought Shivam Mavi into the field. Just when the balance shifted heavily towards Sri Lanka once again, young Mavi hit a couple of sixes and a four off the last three balls of the 18th over to make India believe again. However, their heroic effort could not take India over the line. Mavi gave the hosts hope at the end with a quick-fire cameo of 26 runs in 15 balls but the effort went in vain.
Sri Lanka held their nerves in the final two overs to close out the match but just before the match was officially over - India needed 1 run off 17 balls, practically impossible without a miracle or two - captain Hardik was seen shaking hands with the Indian players and support staff. Normally players shake hands with teammates and the opponents after the match is over.
