DUBAI, Aug 29, 2022 (BSS/AFP) - Skipper Rohit Sharma on Sunday lauded 
Hardik Pandya's brilliance with bat and ball after the all-rounder guided 
India to a thrilling five-wicket win over Pakistan in the Asia Cup Twenty20 
tournament.

Chasing 148 for victory, Ravindra Jadeja, who hit 35, and Pandya, unbeaten on 
33, put on a key fifth-wicket stand of 52 as India achieved the target with 
two balls to spare in Dubai.

Pace bowlers Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Pandya shared seven wickets to set up 
victory for India in their opening match as they bowled out Pakistan for 147.

Pandya, who returned figures of 3-25 with his medium-pace bowling, then stood 
calm to hit the winning six in a tense chase in the six-nation tournament 
which acts as a tune-up for the T20 World Cup in October-November in 
Australia.

India, who lost their previous match with Pakistan by 10 wickets in last 
year's T20 World Cup at the same venue, improved their win-loss record to 8-2 
against the arch-rivals in Virat Kohli's 100th T20 international.

Pandya, who earlier this year made a comeback into the national team after 
recovering from a career-threatening back injury, made the match his own.

"Since the time he has made his comeback, he's been brilliant," Rohit said of 
the champion all-rounder, who led IPL debutants Gujarat Titans to the title 
in May.

"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 runs per over needed, you can panic, 
but he never showed any of that."

- Naseem effect -

Debutant pace bowler Naseem Shah stood out for Pakistan with figures of 2-27 
but a foot injury in the last few overs had him limping as India took control 
with the right-left batting pair of Pandya and Jadeja.

Pakistan kept chipping away with wickets as Naseem bowled Suryakumar Yadav 
for 18 and Mohammad Nawaz rattled the stumps of Jadeja in the final over.

Pakistan skipper Babar Azam said Naseem suffered from cramps.

Kohli scored 35 before falling to Nawaz's left-arm spin that also claimed 
Rohit for 12.

Naseem struck early with the wicket of KL Rahul for nought as the opener 
dragged an express delivery on to his stumps.

The 19-year old Naseem nearly got Kohli out two balls later only for Fakhar 
Zaman to drop a catch at second slip.

"Naseem bowled well at the start, he took crucial wickets and bowled well in 
the death as well," Azam said of his young bowler.

"We missed Shaheen (Shah Afridi, who is injured) but he never let us feel his 
absence. It was his confidence that made him bowl like that."

Kohli, who has endured a prolonged lean patch and recently spoke of his 
mental health struggles, overcame initial jitters and seemed to find his flow 
with a few convincing boundaries including a wristy drive over mid-on before 
getting out.

Earlier, Kumar set the tone for India's dominance as he dismissed Azam for 10 
in the second over and returned figures of 4-26.

Pandya rattled Pakistan's middle-order with his three wickets including the 
dangerous wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Rizwan, who had hit 43 off 42 balls.

Kumar returned to take two wickets in two balls in the penultimate over but 
was denied a hat-trick by number 11 Shahnawaz Dahani.

Dahani smashed two sixes in his six-ball 16 before being bowled by left-arm 
medium-pace bowler Arshdeep Singh, who took two wickets as Pakistan's innings 
folded in 19.5 overs.