Indian cricket fans brutally trolled all-rounder Krunal Pandya after he conceded 55 runs in the first Twenty20 International two days ago at Brisbane. On Friday, the Mumbai cricketer not only redeemed himself but also boosted his self-confidence by toying with his Gabba nemesis, Glenn Maxwell in Melbourne.
India lost the rain-hit tour opening match by four runs, and fans picked Pandya as one of the culprits for India's defeat. Some of them even questioned the wisdom of Indian selectors who have picked the Indian Premier League star in the national side.
Despite the criticisms, India fielded an unchanged XI in the second match at the imposing Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). After winning the toss, skipper Virat Kohli opted to chase again.
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During the Aussie innings, in the 10th over, Pandya produced a peach of a delivery to clean bowl Maxwell, who was going strong on 19 off 22 balls.
In the previous match, Maxwell destroyed Pandya by hitting three sixes in an over, which went for 23 runs. His Wednesday figures read: 4-0-55-0. Redeeming himself, the 27-year-old produced figures of 4-0-26-1 on Friday.
Watch Pandya dismantling Maxwell's wickets:
With persistent rain, the match was first reduced to a 19-overs per side, then revising India's target 137 from 19 overs using DLS method. But further rain saw the target being revised twice to 90 in 11 overs and 46 in 5 overs.
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Finally, with rain showing no signs of stopping, the match was eventually abandoned.
With that India's run of seven consecutive T20I series wins came to an end. The fun fact is that that run started after the abandoned T20I against Australia in Hyderabad last year (series shared 1-1). The teams now head to Sydney for the series finale at the SCG. Hopefully, there will be no rain. But the stakes are getting higher for India, with each passing day in Australia.
India landed in Australia as the favourites against the embattled hosts, but Virat Kohli & Co will now need to win the Sydney match to deny the Aussies the bragging rights and also the morale booster before the two fierce rivals fight for the ultimate prize, the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
