WI vs IND 2022 | Very special feeling to get a chance to lead your country, states Hardik Pandya

India have registered another victory in a white-ball series in recent times beating West Indies by 88 runs in the fifth T20I. India batted first in the game and posted a total of 188/7 courtesy of a half-century from Shreyas Iyer with a knock of 64 runs from 40 balls. West Indies were in trouble right from the start and they lost wickets at regular intervals. Shimron Hetmyer played a lone hand of 56 runs but his efforts were in vain as West Indies were wrapped up on a total of 100. 

Reflecting on the victory under his captaincy, Hardik Pandya stated that it is a very special feeling for him to get a chance to lead the country. 

“It's a very special feeling to get a chance to lead your country. Obviously then winning the game means a lot to me. Captain Ro did everything well before this game, so I just ensured that we kept doing the good work. (On captaincy) Why not? If given a chance, I'll be more than happy to do it. But for now, we have a World Cup coming, it's about getting better as a team,” Hardik said in the post-match presentation.

Axar Patel was brought in by Hardik in the powerplay and the move worked very well. Axar provided three crucial breakthroughs in the first six overs and orchestrated the West Indies’ innings collapse. Kuldeep Yadav and Ravi Bishnoi also chipped in with three and four wickets respectively for the Indian team. Reflecting on his move to bowl Axar early, Hardik said that he believed that the team would get wickets with wrist spinners in the powerplay. 

“I wanted to give Axar the ball early because he is used to bowling in the powerplay, he is capable of holding his own and then with the wrist spinners, I knew we could get the wickets. It's about how we can get better from here. Preparation-wise we're ready for the World Cup but in this sport, you never stop learning. So it's about learning with each game,” he explained.