Hardik Pandya rightfully finished the match with a six as India defeated Pakistan by 5 wickets on August 28 in the second match of the Asia Cup in Dubai. Pandya was also named the Player of the Match as he starred with both the bat and the ball.
As Pakistan batted first after losing the toss, Hardik Pandya got rid of Mohammad Rizwan, Iftikhar Ahmed, and Khushdil Shah to finish with figures of 3/25 in 4 overs. Bhuvneshwar Kumar, on the other hand, registered the best figures by an Indian against Pakistan in T20Is- 4/26.
Then in the chase, as India faltered at 89/4, Hardik added 52 runs for the 5th wicket with Ravindra Jadeja (35) and finished with 33* in 17 balls as India won by 5 wickets and pocketed valuable points.
Veteran wicketkeeper-batter Robin Uthappa said that he saw glimpses of MS Dhoni in Hardik Pandya during India’s match against Pakistan on Sunday. Pandya shares a good friendship with the former India captain and Uthappa mentioned that it has helped Hardik grow as a cricketer over the years.
“Hardik is trying to emulate from MS because he is someone he really looks up to. You can see that there are things that he is trying to imbibe from him and they are really good friends as well, so you can see that rubbing off him on as well. There is a sense of assuredness in his game that is very Dhoni-esque in that sense, you know?” Uthappa was quoted as saying to ESPNCricinfo.
“We can only as Indians that he grows more into this and owns that spot a lot more. I can definitely see him play a leadership role if he continues in the same vein,” he added.
Pandya brought India back into the game by hitting Haris Rauf for three fours in the penultimate over, before holding his nerves and hitting Mohammad Nawaz for a six in the last over to win the match.
Apart from this, Chennai Super Kings posted a morphed photo of Hardik and Dhoni shaking hands after finishing the match with caption reading: “Learning from Mahi Bhai, Pandya furthering the legacy”
