Bangladesh required 11 runs to win off the final over against India in the 2016 T20 World Cup and a rookie Hardik Pandya was handed over the ball by MS Dhoni. As expected, Pandya would have been nervous and he was getting a lot of suggestions from Dhoni and Ashish Nehra. The first ball was taken for a single by Mahmudullah.
On the second, Pandya bowled a length ball, which was dispatched for a cover boundary by Mushfiqur Rahim. The greenhorn all-rounder was under immense pressure now. The third ball of over was also hit for four and Rahim celebrated as if Bangladesh has already won the match. However, two runs were still required for the Tigers and the match was in their pockets.
Hardik Pandya was able to hold his nerves
But Rahim made the mistake of hitting the ball in the air when Pandya bowled a short-pitched delivery. The experienced batsman went for the glamour shot, as it was said by Sunil Gavaskar in the commentary box. Mahmudullah also made the same mistake as he holed out to Ravindra Jadeja in an attempt to finish the game with a maximum.
Subsequently, Dhoni took his right-hand glove off to run out Mustafizur Rahim, and India went on to win by one run. It was a dramatic win for the Indian team and they were all pumped up after making a roaring comeback.
“I’ll be honest, I didn’t think what happened was possible,” he told Bhogle on Cricbuzz. “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.”
“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,” said the India all-rounder.
Meanwhile, India lost the semi-final against eventual winners West Indies after having a fine tournament.