After not being able to showcase his talent with the bat against Oman on Friday during Group A match at Abu Dhabi, India's all-rounder Hardik Pandya was praised by India's fielding coach T Dilip.
Stating that all the Indian players were excellent on the field, but Hardik Pandya executed his fielding skills brilliantly under pressure.
Chasing 189, Oman's batter – Jatinder Singh (32), Aamir Kaleem (64) and Hammad Mirza (51) – tried their best, but could only take Oman till 167 off 4 wickets. They lost to India by 21 runs.
However, at one point, India needed wickets as both Aamir Kaleem (64) and Hammad Mirza (51) added 93 runs for the second wicket.
In the fourth delivery of the 18th over, Harshit Rana bowled a slower delivery, and Kaleem smashed it into the stands. Since the delivery lacked pace, it didn't get the connection he wants.
Hardik jumped into the fray at fine leg, tracking the ball all the way before flinging both of his hands to his right. Hardik had excellent awareness, balance, and catching technique, and India had a vital breakthrough.
During the post-match press conference, Dilip applauded Pandya and said, "One is the preparation side. I think everybody has seen that we were spot on with the preparations, especially high catches and boundary running catches. But the most important factor is, at that particular moment, how well Hardik Pandya reacted to it. It is never easy when you play a horizontal shot, especially a sweep."
He added, "The ball was traveling. One is the catching technique there and also to balance it out with the ropes and having that awareness. It's a fabulous catch. It is something we practiced and today we see that he has executed under pressure very well."
Earlier, star all-rounder Hardik Pandya too could not mark his presence with bat. In the third delivery of eighth over, Pandya was runout by Jiten Ramanandi, scoring just 1 run.
India will face Salman Ali Agha's Pakistani team on September 21 for a Super Four match.
Dilip on Pandya:
Dilip stated that Hardik Pandya over a period has been outstanding.
"Regarding workload, one thing we are very conscious about - myself, bowling coach and the trainer Adrian, we always communicate. We make sure that when I am trying to push him, he's [trainer] on the back foot and when he's trying to push him, I take the backseat. At the start, we did a lot of volume. As we came closer to the tournament, it was always about specifics - where they stand in the match and make sure that the intensity is carried out. Hardik Pandya over a period has been outstanding," Dilip concluded.
