‘Dust in the Eyes or Crying?’ Fans React to Viral Photo of Hardik Pandya Claiming India All-Rounder Got Emotional During National Anthem

After the West Indies chose to bat by winning the toss, there was a scene featuring Hardik Pandya as the two sides stood up for their respective national anthems. The skipper of India's T20I team was said to be having a teary moment as pictures of him wiping his emotions went viral online.

It is normal for an India captain to become overexcited; the situation might make any Indian feel nervous, let alone the captain of the Indian cricket team. However, there has been a lot of discussion on social media over whether that was indeed a tear Hardik was wiping off or something else.

This is not the first time the national song has overwhelmed an Indian skipper. The occasion got the better of India's skipper Rohit Sharma at the T20 World Cup last year when India faced Pakistan in their tournament opener, as his reactions made plain. But in this instance, there was a distinction.

On Twitter, some users asserted that Hardik was indeed getting rid of dust, while others offered amusing interpretations. Some of the responses are included below.

Hardik's comments made following the game received criticism as well. India fell short of West Indies' 150-run mark in the inaugural T20I match, losing by 4 runs. India couldn't complete the task, despite a strong performance from rookie Tilak Varma that brought them close.

Tilak's 39 off 22 balls was the highlight of India's batting, which also saw underwhelming performances from the likes of Ishan Kishan, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav, and skipper Hardik.

With a smirk on his face, Hardik said he doesn't care how the experiments turn out as long as the young people keep learning from failures. The public criticised Hardik for his "casual" attitude, and other people thought he wasn't worthy of leading India.