HARDIK THE RISING STAR

Hardik Pandya, Man of the Match: It was a good day for me. Couple of catches would have helped. It feels pretty good. I don't think anything has changed. I'm the same Hardik, perhaps a bit calmer than last year. I just wanted to play my game. I knew what he (Zampa) was going to bowl. We were planning and eventually I targeted one over. I liked it and eventually it helped. As a cricketer, it is important to have the right form. I am glad I am doing well in the batting department and bowling department. I have a wonderful bunch of people around me. I'd like to thank my coach.
Kohli: Quite different from the first innings to the second. We spoke at the toss to post a good score. We didn't have the ideal start. This is a pleasing win because we were in a tough situation. MS and Kedar played well early, Hardik's innings was fantastic. And MS finished off the way he does. It's a good sign for us that our lower order batting is firing. Today was an example, Sri Lanka was an example, how good they can be. The bowlers were outstanding as well. It's just a matter of giving players the confidence. He (Hardik) believes in himself. That is the key in international cricket. Hardik's innings was the game-changer. He is smart with the ball as well. Great performance from them (spinners) today. 5-65 (sic) in nine overs is outstanding. Chahal has always been brave ever since I have seen him. Hats off to them. Bhuvi and Bumrah were clinical - our bank bowlers. I would like to give a lot of credit to those young bowlers. The game was shortened. These are the best four Indian bowlers in the IPL. They are very consistent and their economy is low. We couldn't have had a better combination. We were quite relaxed at the break.
Smith: It was interesting. We bowled very well with the new ball, but we let the Indians off. MS and Hardik played really well - probably the match-winning partnership. We couldn't capitalize on the start. The new ball was stopping a bit and some were skidding on. It was quite difficult to face. We lost too many wickets in the middle. We can't control the weather. You can only play to whatever happens in the middle. No complaints. Tonight we weren't good enough and we were outplayed by India. I thought they (our fast bowlers) bowled very well, especially with the new ball. Hopefully they can back up in couple of days time. It worked with the new ball today. It was swinging early. We got ourselves in a good position. We probably went away from our game plans a little bit too early and we weren't able to capitalize on what was a good start.
Chahal: When I saw Kuldeep, I realized there was a bit of turn. And when I spoke with Kohli even he asked me to pitch up and look for the turn. On these kind of wickets, you cannot afford to pitch short. There was a bit of intuition to go wide against Wade. Wicket was a bit helpful. When I came to bowl, I had the confidence that there was something in this wicket. It's a great feeling to wear the Indian jersey. I am grateful for all the support that I get from this team.
Varsha Mudgal says: "This match has to have two Man of the Matches, one for each innings, Pandya and Chahal are my choices"
India, earlier in the day, were rattled by Nathan Coulter-Nile and the hosts were reduced to 87-5 in the 22nd over. That's when the crowd-favourite Mahendra Singh Dhoni joined hands with Hardik Pandya. The duo took their time to settle. Pandya shifted gears and went berserk. He missed out on his 100 by 17 runs. Then Dhoni took the initiative to ensure an above-par score with a knock of 79. Stay tuned for presentations.
22:14 Local Time, 16:44 GMT, 22:14 IST: Good performance from the Indians. These reduced games always help the team chasing. That wasn't the case today. Well, Australia's revised target was 164 in 21 overs. The visitors never got going in their chase. The Gujarati-duo of Hardik Pandya and Bumrah set the tone early in the innings with the new ball. When three of your top four fall for single digit scores, it'll always be a tough ask for the lower-middle order batsmen. Glenn Maxwell came out all guns blazing and he took special liking to Kuldeep Yadav hitting three successive sixes. However, he was soon scalped by Chahal, who finished with impressive figures: 5-0-30-3. Faulkner in the end tried his best with the bat, but it was too big a task for the Australian all-rounder.
Australia's last 11 ODIs away from home: L L L L L L L NR NR L L

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