India cruised to a five-wicket win over arch-rivals Pakistan in the second match of Asia Cup 2022 last night at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. The Indian cricket team won the toss and opted to field first in Dubai. A three-wicket haul from all-rounder Hardik Pandya helped the Men in Blue bowl their opponents out for just 147 runs.
Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam opened the innings for the Pakistan cricket team. The last time these two batters opened against India in a T20I in Dubai, they had an unbeaten partnership of 152 runs which helped the Men in Green register an emphatic 10-wicket win over the Indian team in ICC T20 World Cup 2021.
However, Bhuvneshwar Kumar became the first Indian bowler to take a Pakistani wicket since 2019 by dismissing Babar Azam in the powerplay overs itself. Soon after, Avesh Khan got rid of Fakhar Zaman with a short delivery. India kept taking wickets at regular intervals. Eventually, cameos from Shahnawaz Dahani and Haris Rauf guided Pakistan to a 147-run total.
In reply, India lost the wicket of KL Rahul on the second ball itself. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli got off to starts but could not convert it into big scores. Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja turned the game in India’s favor with a match-winning partnership of 52 runs. Eventually, when India needed 6 off 3 balls, Pandya kept his cool and smashed Mohammad Nawaz for a six.
“Even if we needed 15 off the last over, I would have backed myself. I try to keep my mindset as clean as possible. I know the bowler is under more pressure than me (in the last over) and I have nothing to lose,” Pandya said at the post-match presentation.
Fans in awe of the calmness of Hardik Pandya
Here is the video of Pandya’s calm gesture, followed by some of the top Twitter reactions to it:
This confidence pic.twitter.com/bWtXDdt9ms
— R A T N I S H (@LoyalSachinFan) August 28, 2022
Hardik is a 28 year old man with a maturity of 68 year old guy
— Heisenberg (@HeisenJesse) August 28, 2022
🙏👌 Bus itna confidence chahiye life mein… https://t.co/w4qACdyCTX
— Rama Krishna (@RKfantasycric11) August 28, 2022
The calmest ,most self assured,cool as ice finisher in men's cricket.
— ಸೂರಿ 🇮🇳 ( I am a mental health issue survivor) (@Deepbrowncooked) August 28, 2022
Does it match after match right from the last edition of the IPL @Julieprasad @irbishi https://t.co/1WDDY95Qke
The calmest ,most self assured finisher in men's cricket.@FrankieMac71 https://t.co/1WDDY95Qke
— ಸೂರಿ 🇮🇳 ( I am a mental health issue survivor) (@Deepbrowncooked) August 28, 2022
I swear,@hardikpandya7 is the calmest ,self assured finisher in men's cricket today and this has been so right from the IPL till today and hitting a six to finish
— ಸೂರಿ 🇮🇳 ( I am a mental health issue survivor) (@Deepbrowncooked) August 28, 2022
WOW@SeraphOfFire @ahzadran1 https://t.co/1WDDY95Qke
The sheer confidence!! https://t.co/BvpJF0H6uG
— Vk18 (@SG_1511) August 28, 2022
Amazing 🙌🙌 https://t.co/HPxc8Om5iB
— Mallikarjun D. Luffy 🇮🇳 (@CRonaldofied) August 28, 2022
Different Gravy💥🔥 https://t.co/knhITOXZq3
— jerseY (@brahma_bull_) August 28, 2022
Yes I noticed it too! Pandya 😍 https://t.co/Z1xm6S0Gc6
— Sumit (@SKCSWarriors) August 28, 2022
