OTD | Hardik Pandya’s all-round performance helped India register a massive win over arch-rivals Pakistan in T20 Asia Cup 2022 

India and Pakistan played their first match of Asia Cup 2022 in Dubai in what was billed as a high-octane clash. The two teams had met at the same venue a year earlier where Pakistan posted their first-ever win against India in an ICC World Cup event by 10 wickets during the 2021 T20 World Cup. 

Rohit Sharma had already taken over as the Indian skipper from Virat Kohli post the disastrous World Cup just 10 months earlier. It was India who won the toss and put Pakistan into bat. 

Hardik Pandya turned out to be the star with the bat and ball for India. The Indian all-rounder had earlier in the year led Gujarat Titans to a title win in their very first season in the IPL. The tournament was also crucial as the teams were looking to get ready for the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia. 

Hardik Pandya turns hero for India with bat and ball 

Bhuvneshwar Kumar got India off to a good start as he dismissed Babar Azam early for 10 caught by Arshdeep Singh. Fakhar Zaman was the next to go as he fell to Avesh Khan for 10 runs caught by Dinesh Karthik. 

Mohammad Rizwan and Iftikhar Ahmed then added 45 runs for the third wicket as Rohit Sharma looked for some relief. That’s when Hardik Pandya came to his captain’s rescue as he first dismissed Iftikhar Ahmed for 28. This was followed by the wicket of Mohammad Rizwan for 43 and soon Pandya also dismissed Kushdil Shah for 2. 

Naseem Shah dismissed KL Rahul early as India were set a target of 148 runs to win. Virat Kohli joined skipper Rohit Sharma as the pair added 49 runs for the 2nd wicket. Mohammad Nawaz dismissed both the batters in quick succession to put the Indians under pressure. Naseem Shah then dismissed Suryakumar Yadav for 18 with India still needing 59 runs from 34 balls. 

Hardik Pandya then took centre stage as he scored an unbeaten 33 off just 17 balls as he helped India win the game in the last over. India went into the next stage unbeaten but losses to Pakistan and Sri Lanka meant they didn’t make it to the finals. It was Sri Lanka who won the tournament after beating Pakistan in the final.