IND VS PAK - 2nd Match, Group A, Asia Cup 2022

The buzz to this India-Pakistan game was unusually low-key due to several reasons. But the way this has panned out, expect the hype levels to be sky-high for the two potential rematches that are pending this tournament. Nothing better than a mouth-watering India-Pakistan clash on a Sunday, right? The action shifts to Sharjah for the next match of the tournament with Afghanistan taking on Bangladesh. That should be another cracking contest. Do join us for it. Until next time, this is Hari Sadanandan signing off on behalf of Abhinand Raghavendran, Saurabh Shankar and Siva. Cheers!

Hardik Pandya | Player of the Match: In bowling, it's important to assess the situations and use your weapons. For me, bowling short and the hard lengths have been my strengths. It's about using them well and asking the right questions to make the batters commit a mistake. In a chase like this, you always plan over-by-over. I always knew that there is one young bowler and also one left-arm spinner. We only needed 7 off the last over but even if we needed 15, I'd have fancied myself. I know the bowler is under more pressure than me in the 20th over. I try to keep things simple.

Rohit Sharma | India skipper: Halfway through the chase, we still knew that we can win irrespective of the situation. We had the belief and when you have that belief, these things can happen. It's about giving clarity to the guys so that they know their roles well. It was a bit challenging but I'll take wins like this any day over usual victories. Yes, they (India's pace bowling) have come a long way in the last year or so and they have adapted well to different situations. Since the time he (Hardik) has made his comeback, he's been brilliant. When he was not part of the team, he figured what he needs to do to his body and his fitness regime, and now he is clocking 140+ easily. His batting quality we all know and it's been brilliant since his comeback. He is a lot calmer now and more confident about what he wants to do, whether it's with the bat or with the ball. He can bowl really quick, we saw that today with those short balls. It was always about just understanding his game and he's doing that well now. In a high-pressure chase with 10 rpo needed, you can panic but he never showed any of that.

Babar Azam | Pakistan skipper: The way we started (with the ball), was great. We were about 10-15 runs short. Bowlers did really well to make a match of this. Our tail did step up a bit to add those handy runs. Thought was to take the game deep (and hold back Nawaz's last over). Idea was to create pressure but Hardik finished well. He (Naseem) is a very young bowler but bowled so well, and showed so much aggression.

Ravindra Jadeja: Thank you very much. We wanted to play till the end, they have a very good bowling attack, their fast bowlers don’t give anything away. I could have finished the game - left-arm spinner against left-hander, but Hardik played superbly. He (Pandya) came out and said he was going to play his shots, and happy that he stayed till the end.

22:12 Local Time, 18:12 GMT, 23:42 IST: What-a-game! India-Pakistan clashes haven't had this kind of thrill in recent times but today, both teams ensured that the eternal rivalry got another chapter of entertainment to it. Babar's men deserve a lot of credit, because 147 was surely below-par despite the two-paced nature of this pitch. But with regular wickets and some smart defensive bowling, they kept hanging in there and ensured that India had to sweat to reach the target. In fact, when Surya fell to Naseem, India still needed 59 off 34 balls and it wasn't an easy equation in these conditions. But India's all-rounder duo came to the party with Jadeja initially finding the fence in calculative fashion before Hardik stamped his class at the end through a plethora of jaw-dropping strokes. There was some drama in the final over despite just 7 being needed, as Jadeja fell first ball and then there was one more dot ball to take the equation down to 6 off 3. But Hardik 2.0 simply refuses to be fussed and he put the game to the bed the very next ball.

Mohammad Nawaz to Hardik Pandya, SIX, Hardik Pandya - swag, nonchalance and the finishing punch! Cool as a cucumber, sits back and smashes this quicker delivery over long-on for a flat maximum. Cracking pull shot and India have sealed a nervy thriller!

Mohammad Nawaz to Hardik Pandya, no run, it's a dot ball! This is some over from Nawaz so far. Hardik made room and wanted to blast this through the off-side with no sweeper at deep cover. Can't beat extra cover. 6 off 3! And he does a "I have this under control" gesture to DK

Equation: 6 runs | 4 balls. Big, big delivery this.

Mohammad Nawaz to Karthik, 1 run, quicker one on leg stump, Karthik sweeps hard but straight to deep backward square leg. Just a single. Gets Hardik back on strike

Dinesh Karthik, right handed bat, comes to the crease

To borrow a cliched line, that wicket was also a dot ball. 7 runs | 5 balls. Finisher DK is in. This is why he was picked for. Time to repay that faith.

Mohammad Nawaz to Jadeja, out Bowled!! Right on cue, here is that wicket! Is there another twist in this game? Nawaz knows the big shot is coming from the left-hander and drags the length back ever so slightly, not allowing Jadeja to get under the ball for the slog sweep and this brushes the back thigh en route to the stumps. Brave bowling once again from the left-arm spinner who has bowled with a lot of heart today. Hardik is on his haunches at the other end, disappointed at his partner's exit. Jadeja b Mohammad Nawaz 35(29) [4s-2 6s-2]

Mohammad Nawaz to Jadeja, THATS OUT!! Bowled!!

Mohammad Nawaz [3.0-0-26-2] is back into the attack

Right then, a left-arm spinner to bowl the last over with the left-hander on strike first ball. And Pakistan have a fielder less in the deep of course, which means it's all stacked up against Nawaz. Will take a miracle now for Pakistan to drag this to the last ball but you never know. A wicket first ball could stir the pot maybe?

Haris Rauf to Hardik Pandya, FOUR, and this surely is the game-killing blow! Absolute nonchalance from Hardik under pressure, stays back to the hard length and unleashes one of his signature short-arm jabs. So much power and more importantly, such precision as he splits long-on and deep mid-wicket. Just 7 needed off the final over!

Haris Rauf to Hardik Pandya, no run, fiery short ball from Rauf! Beautifully bowled and Hardik can't connect the slash

Haris Rauf to Hardik Pandya, FOUR, this has been belted away! Short this time, Hardik is ready on the back foot and he's waltzed the pull over mid-wicket. In the gap and long-on can't stop it despite putting in a desperate dive. Was hit so, so well

Haris Rauf to Hardik Pandya, FOUR, there's the boundary India were seeking! Sloppy fielding gifts them an extra run. Only one deep fielder on the off-side, so Hardik was always going that side. Gets width to free his arms and he's flat-batted this hard length ball well over mid-off. Not a clean hit but enough to clear the infield and the two chasing fielders did well initially but the one palming the ball couldn't put it back inside the rope. Should have done better