Former cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar showered praise on Team India all-rounder Hardik Pandya after his recent all-round heroics against Pakistan in the Asia Cup 2022 opener on Sunday. Hardik picked up three wickets before scoring a match-winning 33* off 17 deliveries to take India home with two balls to spare.
Incidentally, in 2018, Hardik suffered a serious back injury against Pakistan at the same venue and was stretchered off the field. His career took a wrong turn and performance dipped. Fasttrack to 2022, Hardik Pandya has made a superb comeback and is one of the best all-rounders in the business.
Sharing his views on the Sports 18 show Sports Over the Top, former Indian batter Sanjay Manjrekar hailed Pandya’s impressive ability to remain calm in difficult situations.
“Just this calmness. Everything about him is currently unreal. His bowling returns are unreal, which is something that you get with others as well, but his ability to keep calm and get runs under pressure,” Manjrekar said.
“The pressure is immense”- Sanjay Manjrekar on Hardik Pandya’s last over heroics
ndia were in a spot of bother after losing Rohit Sharma and Kohli in quick succession, but Ravindra Jadeja and Hardik Pandya stitched together a 52-run stand to take the game deep. Jadeja departed with seven runs required off five deliveries before Hardik smacked a maximum over the long-on fielder to take the team home.
“That last over was a tricky one because Hardik was in there and played the faster bowlers mostly, so there was a rhythm of hitting against the quicker bowlers and suddenly the situation was such that Pakistan had to bring in the left-arm spinner. Jadeja got out to the first ball and then he had four balls to get those runs. The pressure is immense but the kind of shots also that he played to get those winning runs under pressure is just outstanding,” Manjrekar added.
India will lock horns with Hong Kong in their final league game on Wednesday, August 31, in Dubai.
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