Rayudu blamed Hardik for not backing Dhruv Jurel much during India’s loss to England in the third T20I match on Tuesday. For the unversed, Hardik did not take a single on the last ball of the 18th over after Jurel hit Jofra Archer’s ball to deep square leg. While Rayudu praised Hardik’s effort and dug deep for his score with 35 balls for 40 runs, he felt that the veteran all-rounder could have shown a bit more faith in Jurel. Hardik helped India in scoring a total of 40 off 35 balls.
“It was a good knock because conditions weren’t really good for batting, wickets falling from the other end. Although he paced his innings nicely, he could have done that little bit more in supporting Dhruv Jurel at the end. Even had 25 been required in the last over, it would have been doable because Hardik did have the ability to hit a good last over. I think if he had slightly more faith in Dhruv Jurel, we would have been able to get a lot closer. The way he paced was quite heartening, however,” Rayudu stated in the interview with Star Sports.
In the recap of this third T20I in the five-match series, India skipper Suryakumar Yadav won the toss and decided to field first in the match.
Ben Duckett, who had put on a 83-for-2 stand along with Buttler, was caught out by Abhishek Sharma off a ball by Hardik Pandya, having contributed a crucial half-century.
England’s middle-order simply capitulated against Varun Chakravarthy, who flattened them for 5 for 24. They were now down to 127 and 8, with Liam Livingstone fighting back with an innings of 43 off 24, while Adil Rashid and Mark Wood chipped in with useful ten runs each for the last wicket.
England ended their innings on a slightly subpar total of 171-9 but their bowlers flew out of the traps, picking up wickets regularly with none of the top four in India crossing 24 runs each.
Pandya played well for the first few overs, scoring 40 from 35 balls, and forged a partnership of 38 with his compatriot Axar Patel.
But Buttler caught Pandya from Jamie Overton’s bowling in the 19th over and gave their tailenders far too much of a task to achieve, with India 26 runs short at the end.
India lead the five-match series 2-1 going into the fourth T20I in Pune on Friday, January 31.