Hardik Pandya starred with the bat for India in their Asia Cup 2023 encounter against Pakistan at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium on Saturday (September 2).

The all-rounder arrived in the middle when the Men in Blue were reeling at 66/4 in the 15th over after winning the toss and opting to bat first.

Amid the pressure situation, Hardik slammed 87 off 90 balls and stitched 138 runs for the fifth wicket with Ishan Kishan (82 off 81 balls) to propel India to a competitive 266/10 in 48.5 overs.

Impressed with his knock, Australian legend Matthew Hayden said that the Indian vice-captain deserved to score a hundred and he would be disappointed by his soft dismissal against Shaheen Afridi.

"I think he will be a little bit disappointed with the way he got out. I think he should have gone on to get somewhere around 120. He will know that," Hayden told Star Sports.

"But the reality is the maturity that he displayed, the way he took charge. He knew that his side was in trouble, he knew that Ishan Kishan was at the other end and he hadn’t played a lot of cricket for India in ODIs. There was an extenuating situation, plus he was facing a world-class Pakistan attack.

"Those situations, he summed up nicely. He did exactly what he was supposed to do through that middle stage. When the spin came on, he was able to manipulate the strike.

"That was almost like a captain’s knock, the one that Rohit Sharma couldn’t play. Hardik did play," he added.

Coming to the match, rain played spoilsport in the second innings as not a single ball was bowled. The cut-off time for a 20-over contest was 10:27 PM local time but the incessant drizzle didn’t even leave an option for a curtailed game.

As a result, the two arch-rivals shared one point each and Pakistan advanced to the Super-4 stage from Group A on account of their crushing 238-run victory over Nepal in the Asia Cup opener.

Now, India will have to beat Nepal in their last group fixture in Pallekele on Monday (September 4) to make it to the next round.