Even if we needed 15, I would have fancied myself, says man-of-the-match Hardik Pandya

Dubai, August 29

Hardik Pandya was planning one over at a time and would have “fancied” his chances even if India needed 15 runs rather than the seven that they scored in the final over to win their Asia Cup opener against Pakistan.

Pandya had a dream game, first scalping three wickets for 25 in his four overs and then finished the match with a six off Mohammed Nawaz, having scored 33 invaluable unbeaten runs off 17 balls.

India defeated Pakistan by five wickets on Sunday to go to the top of their group that also includes Hong Kong.

“In a chase like this, you always plan over-by-over. I always knew that there is one young bowler (Naseem or Shahnawaz Dahani) and also one left-arm spinner (Nawaz),” Pandya said after the match.

“We only needed seven 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,” said India’s No. 1 all-rounder.

As far as bowling is concerned, Pandya knew that he needed to mix short balls and induce batters into making mistakes.

“In bowling, it’s important to assess the situation 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,” he said.

India will play Hong Kong on Wednesday.