India vs Pakistan: Hardik Pandya's calmness under pressure impresses Sanjay Manjrekar

Hardik Pandya inspired India to a five-wicket win over Pakistan in the last-over thriller at the Asia Cup on Sunday. He took three wickets and hit a quickfire 33 to take India over the line.

Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar heaped praise on Hardik Pandya, saying everything that the all-rounder is doing currently is "unreal".

Hardik Pandya inspired India to a five-wicket win over Pakistan in the last-over thriller at the Asia Cup on Sunday, August 28. Pandya was named the Player of the Match for taking three wickets to rattle the middle-order of Pakistan and hitting a quickfire 33 off just 17 balls to take India home.

"Just his calmness. 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," Manjrekar said while speaking on SPORTS18's show 'SPORTS OVER THE TOP'.

"That last over, you know on Sunday night 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 on Sunday night as well, 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."

After an early collapse of India, Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja stitched a match-winning 52-run partnership. With seven runs needed in the final over, left-arm spinner Mohammad Nawaz removed Jadeja to keep Pakistan's hopes alive. However, Pandya, who is in the best form of his life, smashed one over the long-on area for a maximum in the fourth ball to take India over the line.

For Pandya, it was a coming-full-circle moment as four years ago he was stretched off the field after he suffered a back injury against the same opposition during the 2018 Asia Cup.