Legendary Indian cricketer, Sunil Gavaskar has showered praises on the Indian all-rounder, Ravindra Jadeja and Hardik Pandya for their match-winning efforts against Pakistan on Sunday in Asia Cup 2022. While Jadeja was dismissed by Mohammad Nawaz after scoring 35 off 29, Hardik stayed until the very end, helping India beat their arch-rivals by five wickets at Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
Sunil Gavaskar lauded Jadeja for playing a responsible knock at a stage when the required run rate was hovering around 10 with six overs left in India’s run chase. Describing the same, during a chat with India Today, the batting legend said, “Ravindra Jadeja played such a responsible knock, fantastic innings from him.”
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Moreover, Sunil Gavaskar was awestruck with Hardik’s ability to read the game situation pretty well. Pandya stayed unbeaten on 33 off 17 and guided India over the finishing line with a couple of balls to spare. He smashed Nawaz for a six downtown to seal the deal. Gavaskar reckoned that after being named as the captain of Gujarat Titans in the Indian Premier League, Pandya has taken his game to a whole new level altogether.
Elaborating the same, Sunil Gavaskar said, “It’s not just the way he is playing the game, the way Hardik Pandya has been reading the game from the time he was appointed as the Gujarat Titans’ captain, his whole game has gone to another level. The way he assesses a situation, plays according to it is amazing. Thank god, we had him towards the end.”
Apart from playing the stupendous knock, Pandya also finished with figures of 4-0-25-3, picking up the all-important wickets of Mohammad Rizwan, Iftikhar Ahmed, and Khushdil Shah. Gavaskar said that Pandya managed to hit the right channels and kept a check on the Pakistan batters.
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Elaborating the same, Sunil Gavaskar said, “Exactly, because he read the pitch well, he’d seen that there was a bit of grass, he’d seen what had happened in the last T20 World Cup or even the IPL that was played last September. There was a little more carry and bounce and he used that experience to very good effect. He used the bouncer to good effect because he has got that extra pace. Because he has got such a good rhythm, he can generate pace.”