Ricky Ponting hits the bulls-eye on Rohit Sharma-Hardik Pandya situation in India blues amid MI duo's special moment

Ricky Ponting hailed Rohit Sharma's captaincy as he managed his bowlers like Jasrpit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya and others well against Pakistan.

Legendary Australia skipper Ricky Ponting was highly impressed with Rohit Sharma's captaincy against Pakistan as he used his bowlers while defending a moderate 120-run target. It was a tricky pitch to bat on, but Pakistan had a decent start and were in control in the first half of their innings, however, Rohit looked calm and composed and didn't hit any panic button stuck to his plans while managing his bowlers.

India's Hardik Pandya celebrates with captain Rohit Sharma after the dismissal of Pakistan's Shadab Khan. (AP)

Rohit has the liberty of playing alongside Hardik and Bumrah in IPL as he led them in the past which gave him an added advantage of how to use them in critical situations. Hardik, who had a difficult IPL season as a player and captain this year, returned to form under Rohit's captaincy in India's blues. He has claimed three wickets in two matches.

Hardik has always been a big asset for Rohit as he has done well under his captaincy at both MI and Indian teams. The credit goes to the Indian skipper, who has managed him well and shown confidence in him under pressure situations.

Ponting revealed that he chatted with Rohit after India's thrilling win over Pakistan.

"Rohit Sharma is a very experienced captain, isn't he? And I just saw him then and said, mate, your captaincy today was outstanding. I don't think he could have done much more. You think about a lot of the bowlers that he's got in his team," Ponting told ICC.

Meanwhile, Rohit didn't have the best of days with the bat, but his leadership on the field was just outstanding. He didn't lose calm when things were not going India's way, and his bowlers also executed the plans well. Jasprit Bumrah led the pace attack and produced an outstanding spell of 3/14 in his four overs which suffocated Pakistan batters in the moderate chase. While he got good support from the other end as Hardik and Arshdeep Singh claimed two wickets each, while Axar Patel picked one. Mohammed Siraj also bowled an economical spell of 19 runs off his four overs.

The Aussie legend also hailed the bowlers for executing the plan well set by the skipper as Hardik's overs were managed well by Rohit. He bowled four overs and claimed the crucial wickets of Fakhar Zaman and Shadab Khan which shifted the momentum in India's favour. The Mumbai Indians duo also shared a special moment after Shadab's wicket as Rohit lifted Hardik in air after the crucial dismissal.

"He's actually had those bowlers in the IPL as well, not only for India. So he understands them, knows when he can use them, but it's one thing for the captain to set a plan, the bowlers are going to go ahead and execute it and Hardik was outstanding," Ponting told ICC.

Meanwhile, it was a collective effort from the Indian bowlers as Pakistan succumbed under pressure and was restricted to 113/7 in 20 overs in reply to India's 119 on a tacky pitch.

Ponting also hailed the Indian spinners' efforts on a pitch which was more suitable for the seamers as Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja bowled four overs combined and gave just 20 runs. Axar also picked the crucial wicket of Usman Khan by trapping him in front of the wicket.

"I thought he did a really good job with the ball as well, and then you break it down and this has been a wicket that the seamers have liked, but their spinner bowled four overs for 20 as well and Patel picked up a big wicket. Yeah, the wicket was definitely different in the second innings. I mean, you can see Pakistan got the ball to hold up through natural variation, and you know, it was just a little bit tacky, but when the sun came out, the wicket dried out quite quickly and then you have to, you have to adapt and adjust on the run. I thought he did that really well," Ponting added.