'Brilliant' Pandya helps India edge Pakistan in Asia Cup thriller

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.

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"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