Srinagar: Team India T20I skipper Hardik Pandya has explained his decision and reason to handover ball to J&K speedster Umran Malik for the crucial final over against hosts Ireland on Tuesday.
Though India sneaked to win by four runs, Ireland made them sweat hard in a high scoring thriller in Dublin.
Chasing 225 run target Ireland needed 17 runs from the final over to pull off a huge upset. Pandya gave ball to Umran Malik.
India skipper explained the reason for giving young speedster Umran Malik the responsibility of bowling the last crucial over of the match.
“I was trying to keep all the pressure out of my equation. I wanted to be in the present and I backed Umran. He has pace, with his pace it’s always going to be tough to get 18 runs. They played some amazing shots, they batted very well, credit to them and credit to our bowlers for holding their nerves,” Pandya said in the post-match presentation.
“The crowd, their favourite boys were Dinesh and Sanju. Great experience to experience this side of the world. A lot of support comes for us, we try to entertain them and hope we did that. Thanks to everyone who supported us,” said the India captain.
“As a child, it’s always a dream to play for your country. Leading and getting the first win was special, now winning the series is special as well. Happy for Deepak and Umran,” he added.
Talking about the match, Top knocks from captain Andrew Balbirnie (60), Paul Stirling (40) and Harry Tector (39) went in vain as India snatched the match from Ireland in the last over, winning the last-ball thriller by four runs.