Asia Cup 2023

Asia Cup 2022: 3 Reasons why India were able to beat Pakistan

Hardik Pandya’s all-round prowess

Hardik Pandya is among the best all-rounders in limited-overs cricket at the moment. On Sunday, he proved why he is so highly rated. With the ball first up, When Pandya was brought into the attack for his second spell, the Men in Green were 87 for 2 in 12 overs with Mohammed Rizwan and Iftikhar Ahmed looking well-set to give their team a strong finish. He straight away got rid of Iftikhar denting the opposition’s progress. Then in his final over, he got rid of the dangerous Rizwan, and in the same over Khushdil Shah.

During India’s chase, when the 28-year-old arrived at the crease, India was in a spot of bother with 89 for 4 in the 15th over. The Men in Blue needed a partnership, and he, along with well-set Ravindra Jadeja, provided the same. When the game was on a knife’s edge with 21 required off 12 deliveries, Pandya hit three boundaries in the penultimate over to take India to touching distance. Again in the final over, when 6 runs were required off 3 balls, the ace-allrounder didn’t panic and keeping his composure smashed Mohammed Nawaz’s delivery for a six and sealed the win for India.