India crashed to a stunning defeat within the fifth and closing T20I towards West Indies, dropping by eight wickets in Florida on Sunday. Chasing a goal of 166, West Indies reached 171/2 in 18 overs, courtesy of an unbeaten knock of 85 runs off 55 balls by Brandon King. During his blistering unbeaten knock, the opener additionally smacked 5 fours and 6 sixes. Meanwhile, Arshdeep Singh and Tilak Varma took a wicket every for India.

Initially, India posted 165/9 in 20 overs, with Romario Shepherd taking 4 wickets for West Indies. Meanwhile, Akeal Hosein and Jason Holder bagged two wickets every. Suryakumar Yadav top-scored for India with a knock of 61 runs off 45 deliveries.

The end result additionally noticed West Indies seal a 3-2 win within the five-match collection. Going into the ODI World Cup, stand-in captain Hardik Pandya‘s type shall be a trigger for concern. The all-rounder scored solely 77 runs in the course of the collection at a strike charge of 110. Meanwhile, his bowling additionally wasn’t up to speed.

Speaking on ESPNcricinfo, former India cricketer Wasim Jaffer identified that Pandya did not appear like he was in respectable type and it may very well be problematic for his facet. To make issues worse, Pandya may solely muster 14 off 18 deliveries within the collection decider.

“Well, it has been a concern. He looks little rusty. We can’t say that the free-flowing Hardik Pandya who comes in and strikes it sweetly. Doesn’t mean hitting sixes but striking it nicely, rotating the strike. Apart from the fifty he scored in the 3rd ODI, where also he started very very slowly, and picked it up in the slog overs. But even then he looked a little rusty,” stated Jaffer.

“That’s a concern for me. Looking at how Hardik Pandya batted in the series, that was a big concern. Not everytime he is going to start slowly, and he is going to finish strongly. We could see this during this series as well. As soon as he comes, the momentum drops down, the strike-rate comes down and puts the pressure on the other guys and the dug out as well. Something for him to worry, take note and improve,” he additional added.

Hardik’s type may also be trigger for concern within the upcoming Asia Cup, which is scheduled to start on August 31, with India’s opener on September 2 towards arch-rivals Pakistan.