"His leg was a little leg side, so I knew he was going to try to hit me there, and that's when just before my run-up, I just looked at him and said I am going to go slow...," Pandya said.
Solid three wicket hauls by spinner Ravindra Jadeja and debutant pacer Harshit Rana helped India overcome half-centuries from skipper Jos Buttler and Jacob Bethell, restricting England to 248 in 47.4 overs at Nagpur's Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium on Thursday.
Virat Kohli played an unbeaten knock of 82 runs off 53 balls in the match in front of a crowd of 90,000 people. He scored two magnificent sixes on the last two balls of the penultimate over which was bowled by right-arm seamer Haris Rauf and brought the Men in Blue back into the game.
After firing a record-breaking ton in the fifth T20I at the Wankhede Stadium, Abhishek Sharma downplayed the competition for the opening slot between him, Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal.
Pandya added one more knock to his increasing catalogue of stylish, clutch knocks under pressure as he had a 87-run stand with Shivam Dube, that lifted India from 12/3 to a match-winning total of 181/9. He also became the fifth-highest run-getter in T20Is for India.
India's bowling coach, Morne Morkel, has expressed his delight at having Mohammed Shami back in the squad, hinting at a possible return for the veteran pacer in the upcoming game.
India's win in the fourth T20I by 15 runs was no doubt a thrilling affair owing to a fine partnership between Hardik Pandya and Shivam Dube after an early loss of wickets and fine bowling spells from Harshit Rana and Varun Chakravarthy despite some great fightback from England, but it also c
Skipper Suryakumar Yadav on Friday lauded his team's performance against England in the fourth T20I match of the series and said that it was the top effort from everyone in the Men in Blue squad.
Following the defeat against India in the fourth match of the T20I series, England skipper Jos Buttler said that they had started the game brilliantly but lost momentum.
All-rounders Hardik Pandya and Shivam Dube's blitz knocks helped India climb to 181/9 against England in the fourth T20I match of the series at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune on Friday.
India's spinner Varun Chakravarthy emphasised that despite the loss, the team remains focused on its strategy and long-term goals. With two matches left in the series, he believes there is still room to settle into a rhythm and experiment with different batting options.