Last Updated: August 29, 2022, 07:37 IST
Hardik Pandya and Rohit Sharma.
Hardik Pandya produced a special all-round effort as India held nerves to pull off an exciting five-wicket win over arch-rivals Pakistan in their Asia Cup opener.
India beat Pakistan in a thriller of a match by five wickets which gave a rousing start to the Asia Cup campaign for both teams. In a thriller of a match, it came down right to the wire where all-rounder Hardik Pandya had to hit the six to seal the deal for India at Dubai International Stadium. Speaking about the game, India skipper Rohit Sharma said they knew the situation was tight at the halfway mark.
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“Halfway through the chase, we still knew that we can win irrespective of the situation. We had the belief and when you have that belief, these things can happen. It’s about giving clarity to the guys so that they know their roles well. It was a bit challenging but I’ll take wins like this any day over usual victories. Yes, they (India’s pace bowling) have come a long way in the last year or so and they have adapted well to different situations,” he said at the post-match press conference.
Furthermore, he also spoke about Pandya and cited his brilliant all-round show where he not only picked up three wickets but also scored the match-winning 33 off 17 balls.
Also Read: ‘Idea Was to Create Pressure in Final Over But Hardik Pandya Finished if Off Well’ – Babar Azam
“Since the time he (Hardik) has made his comeback, he’s been brilliant. When he was not part of the team, he figured out what he needs to do to his body and his fitness regime, and now he is clocking 140+ easily. His batting quality we all know and it’s been brilliant since his comeback. He is a lot calmer now and more confident about what he wants to do, whether it’s with the bat or with the ball. He can bowl really quick, we saw that today with those short balls. It was always about just understanding his game and he’s doing that well now. In a high-pressure chase with 10 rpo needed, you can panic but he never showed any of that,” he signed off.
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