dubai: Skipper Rohit Sharma praised Hardik Pandya’s bat-and-ball excellence on Sunday. The all-rounder won the Asian Cup Twenty20 tournament after leading India to victory over Pakistan with his five wickets.
Chasing 148 for the win, Ravindra Jadeja, who struck 35 and unbeaten Pandya with 33, placed 52 leading 5-wicket stands as India hit their target with two balls left in Dubai.
Pace bowlers Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Pandya shared seven wickets to beat Pakistan by 147 to give India victory in their opening match.
Returning numbers from 3 to 25 in medium-paced bowling, Pandia is on a winning streak in a tense chase in a six-nation tournament that serves as a tune-up for the T20 World Cup in October-November. and calmed down. in Australia.
India, who lost their last match against Pakistan in last year’s T20 World Cup at the same venue by 10 wickets, improved their win-loss record to 8 against Virat Kohli’s biggest rival in the 100th T20 international. improved to 2.
But Pandya, who made his return to the national team earlier this year after recovering from a career-threatening back injury, made the match his own.
“Ever since he (Hardik) came back, he’s been great.
“He’s a lot calmer now and more confident in what he wants to do, whether it’s with the bat or the ball. confirmed.
“It’s always been about understanding his game, and he’s doing it well now. In a high-pressure chase where you need 10 runs per over, you can panic, but he’s got it. did not show at all.”
Naseem effect
Newcomer pace bowler Naseem Shah stood out for Pakistan with a 2-27 record, but suffered a leg injury in the final overs as India took control with a left-right batting pair of Pandya and Jadeja. I limped.
Pakistan continued to tip with wickets as Naseem bowled Suryakumar Yadav for 18 and Mohammad Nawaz rattled Jadeja’s stumps in the final over.
Pakistani skipper Babal Azam said Naseem was suffering from convulsions.
Kohli scored 35 before falling into a spin on Nawaz’s left arm, while Rohit also scored 12.
Naseem struck early with KL Rahul’s wicket, only for an opener to drag the express into his stumps.
Nineteen-year-old Naseem nearly put Kohli out two balls later, only for Fakhar Zaman to drop a catch on the second slip.
“Naseem bowled well in the beginning. He took important wickets and bowled well to death,” Azam said of his young bowler.
“We will miss Shaheen[Shah Afridi]but he didn’t make us feel absent. It was his confidence that made him throw the ball like that.”
Kohli, who endured a lengthy lean patch and recently spoke out about his mental health struggles, overcame initial anxiety and found his flow with some compelling boundaries, including a wrist-twisting drive along the way. It seems that.
Early on, Kumar set the tone for India’s dominance by beating Azam for 10 in two overs to return 4-26 numbers.
Pandya rattled Pakistan’s middle order with three wickets, including dangerous wicket-keeper batsman Mohammad Rizwan, who struck 43 of 42 balls.
Kumar came back to take two wickets on two balls in the penultimate over, but was denied a hat-trick by No. 11 Shanawaz Dahani.
Dahani struck two sixes for six-ball 16 before being bowled by left-arm medium-pace bowler Ashdeep Singh as Pakistan’s innings folded for 19.5 overs.
