Sachin Tendulkar reveals 'gamechanger' moment that was critical for India vs Afghanistan

Former Indian cricketing legend Sachin Tendulkar highlighted the 'gamechanger moment' from the India-Afghanistan match of the ongoing T20 World Cup on Wednesday. In his game analysis video, Sachin stated the critical 63-run partnership between Hardik Pandya and Rishabh Pant as the gamechanger for him. Sachin said the duo notched up the final 63 runs for India in just 3.3 overs with a strike rate of over 300, which was the difference between scoring 195 and 210 runs. India needed to win by a large margin in order to reinstate its title prospects in the tournament, and according to Sachin, Hardik and Rishabh's partnership achieved that.

"The partnership between Hardik and Pant was tremendous because India scored 63 runs in the last 3.3 overs with a strike rate of 300. That was actually a gamechanger for me because that was the difference between scoring 195 runs and 210 runs. It forces the opposition to think differently and the bigger the margin of win the better for us. So, that was critical for the Indian team, the way we finished was superb," Sachin said in his match analysis video, which he posted on his official Facebook handle. 

India vs Afghanistan

As far as the game is concerned, Indian skipper Virat Kohli lost his third consecutive toss of the ongoing T20 World Cup and was sent to bat first. Indian openers Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul played some exceptional cricket to forge a record 140-run partnership. The batting duo broke the 14-year-old record of highest first wicket partnership by Indian batters in a T20 World Cup match. While Rohit scored 74 off 47 balls, Rahul smashed 69 off 48 balls. Rohit was dismissed by Karim Janat before Gulbadin Naib came in and removed Rahul.

Soon, Hardik and Rishabh came and contributed their bit by smashing 63 runs off the last 21 balls. Hardik scored an unbeaten 35 off just 13 balls, including 2 sixes and 4 boundaries, meanwhile, Pant scored 27 off 13 balls, including 3 maximums and 1 four. In reply, Afghanistan were restricted for 144/7 in 20 overs. Mohammad Nabi and Karim Janat scored the most runs for them as they hit 35 and 42 runs, respectively. Mohammed Shami picked three wickets for India, Ravichandran Ashwin picked two, while Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja picked one each. India won the match by 66 runs. Rohit was adjudged the player of the match for his explosive knock with the bat.

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