Watch: Hardik Pandya opens up on MS Dhoni's influence on his role as a finisher

Hardik Pandya-MS Dhoni (Image source- Twitter)

India's first outing in the Asia Cup 2022 against Pakistan turned out to be a thriller and it was Hardik Pandya who came up with a stellar performance. The Gujarat team all-rounder took it down the wire and finished it off with a six only to give fans a glimpse of India's longtime hero under whom the team won the 2011 50-over World Cup.

The all-rounder's innings provided all cricket fans with a glimpse of their beloved MS Dhoni's batting and the final six turned out to be the icing on the cake. The 28-year-old managed to score 33 runs off just 17 balls that he faced and also bagged a three-for with the ball to bag the player of the match award. Post-match, the host asked the all-rounder about the influence that the former captain MS Dhoni had on his role as a finisher. The Gujarat-born said that he wanted to keep things simple and said that he has seen that with MS Dhoni when he played with him.

"JItna main simple rakh sakun main koshish karta hoon aur obviously Mahi bhai jab unke sath khela hoon dekha hoon maine (I try to keep it as simple as I can and I have seen that with Mahi Bhai always when I played with him)," Pandya opined.

Here is the video

Hardik Pandya about @MSDhoni's influence on his role of a finisher. pic.twitter.com/qpRcaS4vM6

— Harsha. (@CricHarsha) August 29, 2022

The 28-year-old further added that he learns from those whom he has played with. He added that he also learns from those whom he has not played with in his career. The star advised on the importance of staying calm in difficult situations and was happy to share a few tips that helped him succeed as well.

"Jyada maine sawal kiye bhi hain lekin nahi bhi dekha ho to main hameshaa manta hoon ki as a criketer sirf unse nahi jo jo cricketer mere sath khele hain maine unse jo jo cheez main le sakta hoon, liye hain. (I have asked more questions but even if I haven't seen it, I always believe that as a cricketer, not only from those cricketers who have played with me, I have taken whatever I can from those whom I have not played with too)," he added further.

The player of the match further added that he wanted to assess things and look out for all the options before coming to a conclusion.

"Aur main hmesha manta hoon ki agar aapko koi decision life me bhi lena ho aur calm ho aur situation ko assess karte ho to aap jyada behtar decision le sakte ho. (And I always believe that if you have to take a decision in life and have a pen and assess the situation, then you can take a better decision)," he added.

"So main batting me bhi wo same cheez use karne koshish karne ki koshish karta hoon… ki mere kya options hain… kya kya options rakh sakta hoon (So I try to do that same thing in batting also… what are my options… what options can I have?)," Pandya concluded.