• Source:JND
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India suffered an embarrassing defeat by four runs against West Indies in the first T20I at the Brian Lara Stadium on Thursday. However, skipper Hardik Pandya was quick to come forward to back his team and was seen as calm and optimistic going forward in the five-match series.

Reflecting on the result, Pandya admitted the mistakes and said that it was a disappointing result while adding that the team will make mistakes but are willing to learn from them.

 

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“We were right to chase. We made some errors that cost us the game. A young team will make mistakes. We will learn. Good four games ahead," said Hardik when asked at the post-match presentation about the decision to bowl first.

The star all-rounder opened up on the moment when the visitors actually lost the game as he said that they kept losing wickets regularly, and the lack of partnerships made things tough for his side.

“In T20 cricket, if you lose wickets, it becomes difficult to chase. A couple of hits can change the momentum. When we lost a couple of wickets, that halted us. It (playing three spinners) was more to do with the spinners. We wanted to give opportunities to the two wristies," added Pandya.

Pandya heaped praise on the debutants Tilak Varm and Mukesh Kumar who made their respective debuts for the Men in Blue while adding that the duo will only improve with time.

“Mukesh (Kumar) - to have this two weeks in West Indies - to make debuts in all three formats is really good. He bowled a couple of overs back to back. Tilak - very pleasing to see. There’s confidence and fearlessness. They are going to do wonders for India," Hardik stated.

While chasing an easy-looking target of 150, the Indian team at once needed 37 runs in 30 balls with Sanju Samson and Hardik Pandya at the crease.

Pandya was dismissed for 19 while Samson departed after getting run out courtesy of a stunning direct hit from Kyle Mayers, it all went downhill for the visitors.

 

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Earlier the hosts managed to put 149/6 on the board after batting first and successfully restricted India to 145/9, giving them a stinking defeat in their historic 200th T20I match.

Debutant Tilak was the highest run-getter for the Indian team with 39 while Mukesh also looked promising with the ball.