Hardik Pandya steals the show!! So after almost 10 months to the day where India faced an embarrassing defeat at the same venue, India finally pulled one over their archrivals. They were made to fight for every inch of this game, by a buoyant and fearless Pakistan attack led by the indefatigable Naseem Shah.
But in the end, Hardik Pandya showed ice-cold composure and displayed nerves of steel to take India home with 2 balls to spare and with 5 wickets in hand.
Here’s a look at the talking points about an encounter that lived up to the billing, with Hardik Pandya stealing the show-
1. Pakistan’s top-order struggle
A lot has been made about Pakistan being a little too top-heavy, and are far too dependent on their top-3 batsmen in Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, and Fakhar Zaman. And today that issue came to the fore as all three batsmen struggled today. Babar Azam fell after a rather ugly attempt to pull a short ball, whereas Zaman departed after poking at another short ball. Rizwan stayed and tried to make a fist of things, but in a game where a brisk innings would have made a difference between 147 and 165, Rizwan crawled his way to a 42-ball 43, and even he lost his wicket to a short ball. With a genuine dearth of quality middle order options, Pakistan look destined to live and die on the pitch based on how their top-3 perform.
2. Indian bowlers step up to the party
Right from the first ball, the Indian bowlers bowled with the right intensity and aggression. Led ably by the resurgent Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, and brilliantly supported by Arshdeep. They bowled the right lengths, didn’t let the batsmen free their arms, and made full use of the short ball to absolutely devastating effect. The sight of an Indian pace attack taking all the 10 wickets in 2022 is a testament to the fact that India currently possess a rather versatile and quality pace attack. Yes they did get taken for an extra few runs by a couple of lusty hits by the Pakistan tail, but overall this was a quality bowling performance by the Indian pacers.
3. Virat Kohli finds some form
When Virat Kohli walked out to the middle, the score read 1-1 in the first over with Kl Rahul going back after a golden duck. India were under the cosh, and with Pakistan smelling blood, the deck was well and truly stacked against Kohli, who was desperately looking for some runs. It would have been so different had Fakhar Zaman latched on to a difficult chance at second slip. Kohli struggled initially apart from that edge as well, unable to middle the ball cleanly, and giving the look of a man who was out of form. But one disdainful pull shot, and the confidence returned.
He began middling the ball, and then the trademark shots unfurled. A crisp lofted square drive, another gorgeous pull shot, and his swagger was slowly returning. But just when it looked like he turned a corner, he chopped a rather innocuous Nawaz deliver straight up long-off’s throat. While this could be taken positively, it did feel like a chance missed for Kohli.
4. Ice-cool Pandya shines brightest
In the World Cup game last year, Hardik Pandya barely managed to make an impact on the game. He wasn’t going to let that repeat again. With the ball, Pandya was an absolute menace once the vulnerable Pakistan middle order came to the fore. They could not live with his fiery pace, which was going above 140 kmph at certain instances, and coupled with his ploy of literally bouncing the batsmen out, he was simply unplayable and pegged the men in green back several notches. But he wasn’t done just yet.
With the bat, he walked in at a time where Pakistan were genuinely on top and had put the clamps on the Indian chase. But being the ultimate iceman he is, he played according to the situation, and once the opportunity presented himself, he proceeded to turn the match on its head by carting Haris Rauf for 3 boundaries in the penultimate over, and then sealed the game with a six. This latest version of Hardik Pandya is cool, brutal, and absolutely sublime, and will win India many games in the years to come.
