‘Everything about him is currently unreal’: Manjrekar impressed with India star's confidence ‘under pressure’

India will lock horns with minnows Hong Kong in their second clash at the Asia Cup 2022. The match will be played on Wednesday at 7:30 pm.

Team India produced a superb show against Pakistan in their Asia Cup opener, defeating the arch rivals by five wickets in Dubai on Sunday. Despite lacking the services of Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami, the Men In Blue bundled out the neighbours for a paltry 147 and completed the run-chase with two balls to spare.

Hardik Pandya celebrates with teammates after taking the wicket of Iftikhar Ahmed, caught by Dinesh Karthik(REUTERS)

Senior seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar emerged as the standout bowler from the Indian camp, as he picked four wickets in his four-over quota. He found great support from fast-bowling all-rounder Hardik Pandya, who picked three wickets and conceded just 25 runs in his four overs.

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Apart from his clinical performance with the ball, Pandya also made a solid impact with the bat and hit the winning six to wrap up the show in Dubai. Pandya, who walked out to bat when India still required 59 runs in little less than six overs, went on to score an unbeaten 33 of just 17 deliveries.

Watch: Pakistan's Hasan Ali says ‘I love India’ after spotting Indian lady during training in Dubai

Sanjay Manjrekar, former India cricketer, was heavily impressed with Pandya's coolness in a tensed run-chase and called his current form as “unreal”. Speaking on SPORTS18’s daily sports news show ‘SPORTS OVER THE TOP’ the ex-cricketer said: “I mean everything about him is currently unreal. His bowling returns are unreal, which is fine, which is something that you get with others as well. But his ability to keep calm and get runs under pressure. That last over, you know was a tricky one because Hardik was in there and played the faster bowlers mostly and he was hitting the path. 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 in and Jadeja getting out to the first ball and then he had four balls to get those runs.

"I mean, the pressure is immense but the kind of shots also that he plays to get those winning runs under pressure is just outstanding. I'm sure from inside there is a bit of nerves, but he has this confidence currently which he said is that he believes that the bowler would be under more pressure. So, he's just in a zone where you think everything that he is doing is just unreal. Absolutely brilliant.”

India will lock horns with minnows Hong Kong in their second clash at the same venue. The match will be played on Wednesday at 7:30 pm.