After Being Mind-Blown By Hardik Pandya's Captaincy, Robin Uthappa Brings 'Dhoni' Topic

Hardik Pandya's India kept the T20I series alive against West Indies with a seven-wicket win in the third T20I. Kuldeep Yadav was the star with the ball as he took three wickets while Tilak Varma and Suryakumar Yadav played great knocks to take India over the line. Going into the fourth T20I, India still face a must-win situation but the signs are positive. However, after the loss in the second T20I the situation was not so good.

Former India player Robin Uthappa was unhappy with Yuzvendra Chahal not getting a final fourth over in the second T20I which India lost. "I have one expression - one Gen-Z expression for this moment - 'pooof' and not in a nice way," Uthappa said in a chat on Jio Cinema after the conclusion of the 2nd T20I on Sunday.

"I am just mind-blown by how when a guy gets you three wickets in an over essentially you don't bring him back for another one and kind of close the game completely."

"The likes of Alzarri Joseph are not going to contend with the experience and class of a Yuzi Chahal. He knows how to bowl to these lower-order batsmen, he knows how to get them out. And Akeal Hosein is not gonna take him on, not at that point with three overs to go. He would have backed himself with two overs to go perhaps, not three overs to go. So, you knew there was an error in judgement there," he further said.

However, Uthappa changed tones ahead of the third T20I.

"To err is to human. He will make some errors. Even someone like MS Dhoni did make mistakes. There were errors in judgement in his leadership when he led the country. But Hardik is someone who looks at captaincy from a progressive point of view. We have seen him lead only in IPL thus far and in international cricket, it will be a little bit of a journey. You cannot expect that transition happening immediately. You have to give him some time and acknowledge that all these players are playing a white-ball game after the IPL so there has been a bit of a break,” Uthappa said on Jio Cinema ahead of the third T20I against West Indies.

The fourth T20I is on Saturday.