India captain lauds ‘brilliant’ Pandya

India 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.

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.

"Since the time he (Hardik) 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.

Chasing 148 for victory, Pandya put on a key fifth-wicket stand of 52 with Ravindra Jadeja as India achieved the target with two balls to spare in Dubai. Earlier, Pandya had returned figures of 3-25 with his medium-pace bowling and the all-rounder eventually wrapped things up as he held his nerves to hit the winning six in a tense chase.

"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," the India captain said.