Rizwan takes a leaf out of Pandya’s book

With momentums shifting hither and thither, viewers kept at the edge of their seats and a nail-biting finish – the India-Pakistan Asia Cup Super 4 clash on Sunday in Dubai offered everything that fans expect from these two arch-rivals.

Pakistan came out as winners at the end, winning the contest by five wickets with just a ball to spare. Pakistan opener Mohammad Rizwan was the embodiment of calmness and composure throughout, the two qualities most needed to neutralise the hype of a high-pressure game of such stature and stay ahead.

Rizwan had said before the game that the 'brave and calm' would come as winners of this contest. Pakistan, especially, Rizwan, were exactly that. They were brave and calm. And interestingly, Rizwan said he had taken a leaf out of his arch-rivals' book to do that.

"Just as [Hardik] Pandya had said in the last game that he always stayed easy and relaxed and was just looking for one over to take the game away, I employed the same mindset today. I also tried to stay easy and stay till the end. Obviously, it was a big target on the board. So, I tried to take the opportunities whenever offered and the almighty helped me in my pursuit," Rizwan said at the post-match presentation.

Hardik's lusty blows in calm demeanor made the difference when the two sides last met in the same competition exactly a week ago at the same venue.

Asked if Rizwan, who played an anchor innings -- a 51-ball 71-run knock -- before he got dismissed in the 17th over, had ever doubted their chances of winning the game after he got out, the wicketkeeper-batter said: "No, no, no. I was never worried about that. We know about our strengths. We had the confidence that the power-hitters that we have in our side are very well capable of taking 40 or 45 runs in the last four overs. We plan these things beforehand that we can leave last 40 or 45 runs to be taken by our batters at the death."

One other trick that worked for Pakistan in the game was the gambit of promoting Mohammad Nawaz to number four. Left-hander Nawaz ended up playing his career-best 20-ball 40, laced with six boundaries and two maximums, to help shift the game towards Pakistan.

"I thought Nawaz could execute because they had two leg spinners operating, so we send him up the order as he is a left-hander," Pakistan skipper Babar said.