Indian cricket legend MS Dhoni was known for his iconic style of finishing off matches with gigantic sixes, and now it seems that Team India has found the second version of 'MSD' in Hardik Pandya, who also loves to hit sixes and finish off matches like the former skipper.
The cricket world got to see a glimpse of Dhoni in Hardik, as the all-rounder batted very patiently and went berserk at the end, and finished the match with a big six for India against Pakistan in Dubai.
He guided Team India to a thrilling five-wicket win over Pakistan in the second match of the ongoing Asia Cup 2022 on Sunday (August 28) at Dubai International Cricket Stadium. The star all-rounder also bagged the Player-of-the-Match award for his fantastic efforts with both bat and ball against Pakistan.
Apart from taking India over the line with his knock of 33* off 17 balls laced with 4 fours and a six, Pandya also snared three wickets while conceding 25 runs in his quota of four overs against Pakistan.
After the match, speaking with Sanjay Bangar, Gautam Gambhir, and Jatin Sapru for Star Sports, Pandya explained how he had channeled his inner Dhoni in the final over against Pakistan.
Hardik Pandya said on Star Sports: “Jitna me simple rakh saku me koshis karta hu. Obviously Mahi bhai also, jab bhi unke saath khela hu dekha he maine, zyada maine sawal kiya nehi but nehi bhi dekha toh bhi main manta hu ki as a cricketer, sirf unse nehi, jo jo players ke saath maine khela he jo jo cheez me le sakta hu maine liya. I feel that agar koi decision life me bhi lena ho if you are calm and are able to asses the situation better then behetar decision le sakte ho.
(I try to keep it as simple as possible. Obviously, I have seen Mahi Bhai when we played together. I have asked a lot of questions and even if I don't ask, I always believe as a cricketer I have learned and adapted things from every player that I play with. I believe even in life whenever we have work to be done, we access the situation, to get better results. I try to do the same with my batting, I access the options I have and play.”)
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