Watch video: Captain Hardik Pandya hands over trophy to Prithvi Shaw after T20I series win against New Zealand

Ahmedabad: Team India concluded their limited-over home series against New Zealand on a positive note. After a 3-0 clean sweep in the 50-over format, the young side clinched a 2-1 victory in the T20I series.

In the third and final game of the three-match series on Wednesday, the hosts decimated the Black Caps to register a 168-run win at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium.

During the post-match award ceremony, India skipper Hardik Pandya received the trophy from BCCI president Roger Binny and board secretary Jay Shah. However, when it was time to pose for the camera, the 29-year-old, in a heart-winning gesture, handed the trophy to young batter Prithvi Shaw and let him lift the trophy. The BCCI has shared a clip of the award ceremony on its official Twitter handle.

Prithvi Shaw earned his national-team call-up for the New Zealand T20Is after a prolonged interval. He caught the attention of the selectors owing to his swashbuckling form in the domestic circuit. However, the Mumbai opener warmed the bench during the series.

In this context, Pandya who was serving as captain in the absence of designated skipper Rohit Sharma, also had to face a lot of questions from fans and some cricket pundits on Shaw’s exclusion from the playing XI.

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After the series win, Pandya’s gesture towards Shaw won the hearts of cricket enthusiasts. He let Shaw hold the trophy for the photo session. The 23-year-old was evidently so excited to be a part of the winning side and took it with a big smile. Then the Indian side went on to celebrate their remarkable victory with Shaw being in the centre.

Coming back to the match, India opener Shubman Gill stole the show with his maiden T20I hundred. His 126-run knock in just 63 deliveries took the Men in Blue to a mammoth total of 234 runs. Among others, Rahul Tripathi smashed a quick-fire 44 off 22 balls. In the end, Suryakumar Yadav (24 off 13) and Hardik Pandya (30 off 17) also played crucial cameos.

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In chase, the Black Caps surrendered in front of the fiery bowling attacks of Umran Malik, Arshdeep Singh, Shivam Mavi and Pandya. The captain wrapped up the fixture with the best bowling figures of 4/16, while Malik, Singh and Mavi each got two wickets.

While Gill was given the Player of the Match award for his century, Pandya was named the Player of the Series.

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