WATCH: Hardik Pandya Double-Strike Gives India Hope, Leapfrogs Over R Ashwin And Jasprit Bumrah To Create THIS Record

Team India captain Hardik Pandya claimed 3/35 and scored 24 to give India a fighting chance in the second T20I against West Indies on Sunday.

Team India captain Hardik Pandya bowls in the second T20I match in Guyana. (Photo: AP)

Team India skipper Hardik Pandya’s all-round show kept his side in the hunt in the second T20I against the West Indies at the Providence Stadium in Guyana on Sunday but Nicholas Pooran and Akeal Hossain put the home side 2-0 up in the five-match series. Pandya scored 24 off 18 balls in he first innings to help India to a challenging 152 for 7 after batting first and then rocked the Windies batting early in their chase.

Pandya picked up two wickets in his opening over, including a wicket off the first ball of the second innings while going on to claim 3/35 in his four over. Later on, Pandya came back to dismiss his opposite number Rovman Powell for 22 as well.

WATCH Hardik Pandya claim two wickets in his opening over HERE…

Pandya Power _#INDvWIAdFreeonFanCode #WIvIND pic.twitter.com/UtS1p5qcpq — FanCode (@FanCode) August 6, 2023

However, Nicholas Pooran smashed a match-winning 67 off 40 balls while Akeal Hossain and Alzarri Joseph took 12 runs off the penultimate over by Mukesh Kumar to put their side up 2-0 in the five-match series. This is the first time since 2016 when West Indies have won back-to-back T20I matches against India.

Pandya’s three wickets in the match means he is third-highest wicket-taker for India in T20I, leapfrogging both off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin and Jasprit Bumrah. Pandya now has 73 wickets in 89 T20I matches at an average of just 25.97. Ashwin is in 4th place on the table now with 72 wickets in 65 matches while Bumrah has 70 wickets in 60 games.

Meanwhile, ‘Player of the Match’ Nicholas Pooran was satisfied with his performance. “I am satisfied that I performed. It is something that I have been looking for in the last couple of years, so be there and finish games. I want to be consistent. I have been working so hard, I have made a lot of mistakes, lost a lot of games for my teams. I want to entertain the fans as much as possible. It's about being positive and confident,” Pooran said after the match.

WI skipper Powell was also pleased to be 2-0 ahead in the series. “It’s a very good position to be. Since 2016 we haven't won T20 series. It was deliberate to change the bowlers constantly and give one over spell, especially fast bowlers because it is very hot. When you are batting wrist spin, it is hand as a right-hander. To limit Chahal, Kuldeep and Bishnoi we need left-handers,” Powell said.

India and West Indies will play the third T20I of the series at the Providence Stadium in Guyana on Tuesday.