Team India finally exacted 2021 T20 World Cup revenge with Pakistan as they pulled off a five wicket victory in the Asia Cup 2022 opener riding on Hardik Pandya's brilliant all-round show on blockbuster Sunday (August 28).
Hardik (3/25 in 4 overs) showed his high value under extreme pressure as his well-directed short balls helped India bowl out Pakistan for 147.
Meanwhile, Pakistan skipper Babar Azam rued his team's defeat and said they were 10-15 runs short in the pursuit.
"The way we started (with the ball), was great. We were about 10-15 runs short. Bowlers did really well to make a match of this. Our tail did step up a bit to add those handy runs. Thought was to take the game deep (and hold back Nawaz's last over). Idea was to create pressure but Hardik finished well. He (Naseem) is a very young bowler but bowled so well, and showed so much aggression," he said in the post match presentation.
It should have been straight forward chase but India's experienced top-three faltered, putting extra pressure on the middle order.
Hardik (33 not out off 17) and Ravindra Jadeja (35 off 29) then shared a 52-run stand to take India on the cusp of of a famous win. The star all-rounder's three fours off Haris Rauf off the 19th over effectively sealed the game for India.
With the team needing 6 off three balls, Hardik finished the game with a six off left-arm spinner Mohammad Nawaz.
Earlier, Bhuvneshwar Kumar (4/26) was at his skilful best and his four wicket haul included the prized scalp of Babar Azam (10). However, Hardik's envious figures of 3/25 in four overs, during the middle phase, triggered a Pakistani batting collapse.
Young seamer Arshdeep Singh also returned decent figures of 2/33 in his first ever appearance in an Indo-Pak clash as all 10 wickets were snapped by speed merchants, a first for India in shortest version. The first over of the game bowled by Bhuvneshwar was a rather eventful one as it included two DRS calls going in favour of Mohammad Rizwan (43 off 42) and a straight drive from Babar.
There was not much movement around for both Bhuvneshwar and Arshdeep Singh as they managed to keep things tight in their two over opening spell.
Babar straight drove Arshdeep in the second over, showing the sublime touch he has been in over the past 12 months.
Bhuvneshwar, however, surprised the Pakistan skipper with a bouncer in his second over and he went for the pull only to top edge to Arshdeep at short fine leg.
