Hardik Pandya and Pat Cummins were involved in a verbal duel during the 3rd ODI at Indore

When it’s an India- Australia contest, banters and verbal exchanges are bound to take place. We have witnessed tempers flying high during the Test series between the two sides, earlier this year and even the spat between Indian skipper Virat Kohli and Australian wicket-keeper Matthew Wade ended up hitting the headlines of the daily recently.

On this occasion, it was all-rounder Hardik Pandya who was involved in a verbal duel with Australian pacer Pat Cummins. Pandya has earned himself a reputation of going after the opposition bowling. A dangerous customer with the bat in hand, the visiting side wanted to see his back at the earliest. Pandya took spinner Ashton Agar for a ride initially and in the next over Cummins tried to get under Pandya’s skin. Pandya attempted to cut a delivery from Cummins between the point and backward point region but failed to find the gap. Cummins didn’t lose the opportunity to have a go at the batsman.

Verbal duel between the two

The Australian pacer kept on having a go at the batsman, and on one instance, Pandya gave it back by gesturing him to speak a little louder, as he could not hear the fast bowler’s words. None of it worked in the visitors favor, as the Indian all-rounder went on to score 78 runs off 72 balls, including five fours and six sixes.

The man of the match was happy to have delivered batting up the order. In the post-match chat, he said “Feels pretty good, would like to finish the game next time. I don’t need to be surprised, important to back myself, saw it as an opportunity. I wanted to target the left-arm spinner, when I got a few sixes, I knew I could take some time. I try to contribute everywhere I can, I want to get better”

Watch the video here

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— CricGif (@CricGif17) September 24, 2017