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Former India opener Sunil Gavaskar lauded middle-order batters and all-rounders Ravindra Jadeja and Hardik Pandya for their match-winning efforts against Pakistan during their opening match of the Asia Cup 2022 in Dubai on Sunday. The duo stitched a 51-run partnership before Jadeja was dismissed by Mohammad Nawaz after scoring 35 off 29. Then Hardik continued the onslaught until the end, helping India beat their arch-rivals by five wickets.
After the game, Gavaskar heaped praise on Jadeja for his knock when India were in a precarious and fighting against the required run rate which was around 10 with six overs left in their run chase.
See the full interview here:
“Ravindra Jadeja played such a responsible knock, fantastic innings from him,” Gavaskar told India Today. He was also in awe of Pandya's match-reading capabilities after the Gujarat Titans (GT) captain's unbeaten 17-ball 33-run knock that took his team over the line with two balls remaining, wrapping up the game with a six to seal the deal. He also credited his run as GT skipper for his brilliant form with the national team.
“It’s not just the way he is playing the game, the way Hardik Pandya has been reading the game from the time he was appointed as the Gujarat Titans’ captain, his whole game has gone to another level. The way he assesses a situation and plays according to it is amazing. Thank god, we had him towards the end,” he said.
In addition to his match-winning innings, Pandya also bagged three wickets for 25 runs as the Indian pacers ran riot on the Pakistan batters. He broke the partnership of Mohammad Rizwan and Iftikar Ahmed and then dismissed Khushdil Shah for two runs as well.
“He read the pitch well, he’d seen that there was a bit of grass, he’d seen what had happened in the last T20 World Cup or even the IPL that was played last September. There was a little more carry and bounce and he used that experience to very good effect. He used the bouncer to good effect because he has got that extra pace. Because he has got such a good rhythm, he can generate pace and that’s what he was doing,” Gavaskar said.
