IND vs PAK | Twitter reacts to Pandya forcibly composing himself to earn priceless scalp of Imam-ul-Haq

SportsCafe Desk

BySportsCafe Desk, SportsCafe Editor

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A World Cup clash between India and Pakistan is as big a strength of a character as they come, especially with a crowd of 1,30,000 closely watching every ball. Unsurprisingly, Hardik Pandya was feeling the heat in Ahmedabad on Saturday but overcame the emotions to get a wicket at a crucial juncture.

After being asked to bat first, Pakistan had a nearly peerless start to their innings courtesy of a flurry of early boundaries from Abdullah Shafique and Imam-ul-Haq until the former was dismissed by Mohammed Siraj in the eighth over after an opening partnership of 41. Nevertheless, Imam carried on his merry way when joined by skipper Babar Azam as the two stand between the two raced past 30 in no time. Rohit Sharma typically introduced Hardik Pandya into the attack at first change but the all-rounder struggled, conceding 18 runs in his first two overs and seemed destined for more punishment in the 13th over of the game but the tale had a twist to it.

Pandya started the over with a single off Babar, bringing Imam on strike, who slashed the next delivery square of the wicket for a ferocious boundary. The opener had thus raced to a run-a-ball 36, featuring six boundaries, in a more or less flawless knock even as Pandya stood his ground holding his head in frustration. The pressure was writ large on the bowler's face. Pandya evidently identified the same and before running in for his next delivery, took a moment to bow his head down and indulge in an animated conversation with himself, his hand gestures indicating an attempt to redraw focus to the task at hand. The motivational talk worked like a charm as Imam got a thick outside edge while attempting a cover drive that was bagged safely by KL Rahul with the gloves, provoking Pandya to pump his first and break into a passionate celebration.

Twitterati was quick to praise Pandya for his self-awareness as well as presence of mind and took to social media to express their thoughts on the incident.

Kala Jadu?

Hahaha! LOL xD xD

That was some goodbye!

What a delivery!

Man with some prayers!

Hahaha! Kya tha?

Chu manthar!

That was a ball with magic!

Magic delivery!

Baapree!!🤣🤣🤣

Yes yes!

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