Hardik Pandya Reveals Where Mushfiqur Rahim Went Wrong During 2016 World T20 Clash Vs India

Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya has opened up on the dramatic clash against Bangladesh at the 2016 World T20. While the Indian side has always been the superior one, the Tigers have brought their A-game on a few occasions. The 2016 World T20 group match at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru was one of those in which the tourists held the upper hand for the most part.

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Heading to the final over, Bangladesh needed 11 runs to win. Captain MS Dhoni handed the ball to Hardik Pandya, who was relatively new to international cricket then. It began with Mahmudullah bringing Mushfiqur Rahim on strike with a single. Rahim helped himself to two boundaries to bring it down to a couple required. But the tables turned as Pandya picked up two wickets in the next three balls to secure a 1-run triumph.

In a conversation with Harsha Bhogle at Cricbuzz, the 26-year old remembered that encounter and was awestruck by what transpired. Hardik revealed that his strategy at that point would have been to take a single and finish it off by hitting a six to secure a win.

“I’ll be honest, I didn’t think what happened was possible. Even at that time, I thought if I was there, I would have taken a single and secured a win. And then I’d have gone for the signature shot to finish it with a six and all of that.”

But he went for a big shot, and that is why he got out: Hardik Pandya

The Baroda-born cricketer went on to disclose the reason behind delivering a back of a length ball. Hardik Pandya opined that such a delivery would be hard to hit for a six as well as scramble for a single. He feels that one has to play well to take a run out of it and Mushfiqur playing a wrong shot resulted in his downfall.

“I was thinking which is the most difficult ball if someone wants to take a single. So I thought back of the length is something where it’d be difficult if you want to hit, and similarly, it isn’t easy to take a single on it as well. You have to play it well to get a run out of it. But he went for a big shot and that is why he got out.”

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