Asia Cup 2023: Resilience and Leadership - Why Hardik Pandya knock vs Pakistan is more than just runs?

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In a rain-dominated affair, the first encounter between India and Pakistan failed to prosper in Kandy. It was nature who won the battle as the match got washed out in the Asia Cup 2023.

But like all the India vs Pakistan clashes, there is some learning from this match as well. Despite the points table showing the match had the teams share the points, the learnings for both camps won't be shared.

In the glittery mantle of an India-Pakistan showdown, we often tend to forget the more pragmatic inner layer, which is often the most important aspect of the game. And in this game, India may have found a key answer to one of their most important questions.

Apart from Ishan Kishan's brilliant knock, the bigger question was Hardik Pandya, and the all-rounder answered it with his own style.

Hardik Pandya and his brilliance vs Pakistan

Hardik Pandya played yet another fantastic knock against Pakistan on Saturday. The Indian all-rounder came to the crease with his team struggling at 66 for 4, but together with Kishan, the duo took India out of jail.

It was Pandya who continued his merry way and scored 87 runs off 90 balls to provide India a decent total on the board. Pandya's 87 had a lot of determination and control, which was evident in his batting as well.

Hardik Pandya showed grit and resilience

Pandya had to face the music of the Pakistani pacers from the start, but he weathered the storm. The all-rounder built his inning slowly and rotated the strike, which is not familiar with his name. Pandya's start had resilience and maturity, which has been an ever-growing aspect of his game in recent months.

The added role of captaincy in T20s for India must have played a part in this transformation, but Pandya's knock against Pakistan, that too in an ODI match is something new. In his 87-run knock, the batter hit 7 fours and 1 six, which means 61 per cent of his runs came from running between the wickets, which is a glaring example of his de-novo batting approach.

Hardik Pandya's Leadership on the Field

In numerous instances during the inning, Pandya's batting showed the mentality of a leader. The several talks with Ishan to strategize their partnership, the respect to the Pakistani pacers instead of taking them on - all of these things can show a radical change in Pandya's mindset which indicates his leadership thought process.

With India eyeing for a long-term replacement for Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya is making a case for himself. He has already been given the T20 duties, although unofficially. And when it comes to ODI cricket, we may see the Vadodara-born star get the baton, at least he is showing promising signs to carry it with conviction.