Asia Cup 2022: Hardik Pandya, the match-winner who merges style and substance

Dubai, August 29: The advertising campaign of a betting company featuring Hardik Pandya is quite striking. Sitting in a posh car, Hardik recollects his past struggles to reach where he is now.

The tone and facial expressions are intended to convey a sense of brash confidence, even a bit of smugness. He is wearing a fancy shirt and the tattoos on his neck are very clear.

The script is generously sprinkled with words like 'talent toh top ka tha’ and 'Banda top tak jayega.’ Here no effort is being taken to project him as a humble person but he comes as a man who always in know of his destiny and ways to achieve it.

ASIA CUP 2022 -- SPECIAL PAGE

That self awareness was very much on show during India’s Asia Cup 2022 match against Pakistan in Dubai on Sunday night (August 28). Both the teams were going neck-to-neck in till the 18th over of the chase with India placed 127 for 4.

The equation then was 21 runs to win off 12 balls. The first 2 balls produced 2 runs, now 19 runs off 10 balls. But Hardik hammered three fours in the next four balls bowled by Haris Rauf to reduce the gap to a very doable 7 runs off 6 balls.

But then an India vs Pakistan match has always produced twists even more than a Hitchcock thriller. Mohammad Nawaz clean bowled Ravindra Jadeja off the first ball of the 20th over, and Dinesh Karthik handed the strike back to Hardik with a single off the next ball.

Nawaz bowled a rather short delivery at the off-stump and Hardik gave space to himself and smoked the ball but straight to the fielder at extra cover. Now, India needed 6 off 3 balls. 'Oh it’s tension, it’s tension,” yelled Wasim Akram from the commentary box.

But Hardik was immune to all that. The TV cameras caught Hardik nodding the head calmly to Karthik at the other end, an Indian way of telling 'Don’t worry, I’m here.’

Hardik launched the next ball over long off fence for a six to finish the match. There was no fist pump or any other over-the-top celebration but a simple finger-wiggle to someone at the dressing room or stand.

“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,” Hardik later told Star Sports, the host broadcaster.

Many would trace a shade of MS Dhoni in those words and how he took the games deep to have a personal duel with the bowler to give himself a better chance to win the contest.

But Hardik had already showed his game changing abilities with the ball earlier, picking up three Pakistan wickets. Hardik hit the hard lengths and bowled short-pitched balls to keep the Pakistan batters on tenterhooks.

“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,” said Hardik.

We have seen this in the IPL 2022 too when Hardik led the Gujarat Titans. As the captain, he led from the front, promoted himself to No 4 as batsman and bowled the tight overs.

Hardik was the chugging engine of the Titans, and he ensured that everyone knew it. He was showing the world a steely cricketer beneath those tattoos, glittering chains, party wares and sunglasses of all colours.

A statement for us: 'Ignore my looks, watch my cricket.’

India captain Rohit Sharma said as much. “Since the time 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 runs per over needed, you can panic but he never showed any of that,” said Rohit on Star sports.

It is the ultimate tribute to a cricketer who was once a centre of jokes and jibes, and had to survive several auto da fe, particularly after that Karan Johar episode.

Hardik still remembers that walk through the fire. “Throughout my life, a lot of people have counted me out and put a question mark — about the auction, or retention or even my captaincy. The best way to answer is not to answer,” he had said during the IPL 2022.

But Hardik has already answered his naysayers several times now, not with angry words but with sharper performances.