Asia Cup 2022 Championship: India VS Pakistan - Hardik Pandya took India to a 5-wickets victory over Pakistan

A T20I match between India and Pakistan, and it cannot get any better than this. In a low-scoring contest, one person stood on top with the ball and batted the whole game - Hardik Pandya.

"I feel the bowler is under a lot more pressure than me. I just needed one six in that final over. I try to keep things simple.", said Hardik Pandya on winning the Man of the Match.

The high-octane clash commenced with India winning the toss to bowl first and shocking everyone by benching Rishabh Pant for Dinesh Karthik. The eventful start of Pakistan's innings started with so much drama in the very first over. Two reviews in first over itself but going in Pakistan's favour. 

Bhuvneshwar Kumar showed why he is the Man for the big game after he took the big gun, Babar Azam, for ten runs. And then Fakhar Zaman walked out after nicking the ball even before the umpire declared out. 

Pakistan got their first decent partnership of 45 runs between Iftikhar Ahmed and Mohammad Rizwan. Just when the former looked to catch pace and action, the hero of the day, Hardik Pandya, removed him at 28.

Fourteenth over witnessed a crucial breakthrough from Hardik Pandya, who removed Mohammad Rizwan (43) and Khushdil Shah (2) in the same over. The middle order saw a collapse, with Bhuvneshwar Kumar taking over. Haris Rauf and Shahnawaz Dahani accelerated the score to post a challenging total of 147. While Bhuvneshwar Kumar walked with four wickets, Hardik Pandya and Arshdeep Singh took three and two wickets, respectively. 

In defending a below-par total of 147, Pakistan showed their world-class bowling. Naseem Shah's first match against India and the whole world saw the lethal swing bowler he is. He took KL Rahul on the second ball of the game on a duck and continued to keep Virat Kohli in check. 

Virat Kohli was focused and pulled the innings forward single-handedly as Rohit Sharma played the supporting role. Left-arm spinner again came to trouble in the form of Mohammad Nawaz, who sent Rohit Sharma (12) and Virat Kohli (35) back to the pavilion similarly. 

Ravindra Jadeja coming in at four came as a surprise to the fans. He, along with Suryakumar Yadav, Looked to accelerate for India, but Naseem Shah gave Pakistan a comeback by removing Suryakumar Yadav. 

Fifty-nine needed from 34 balls, Hardik Pandya, alongside Ravindra Jadeja, played a plethora of jaw-dropping shots. But Pakistan bowlers ensured to keep Indian batters in a tight spot. 

Match turned into high-end drama with the wicket of Jadeja on the first ball of the final over despite just seven runs needed. The equation being reduced to 6 needed off 3, Hardik Pandya 2.0 refused to be fussed as he nodded his head, denying the single to Dinesh Karthik and finished off in style with a six on the next ball. 

Skipper Babar Azam gave the last over to the spinner, but after losing the game, he said, "Thought was to take the game deep (and hold back Nawaz's last over). Idea was to create pressure, but Hardik finished well."

Harsha Bhogle: "Calm as ever, and with incredible skill, Hardik Pandya takes India home. In this form, few better than him in this format."

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