IND Vs PAK: Hardik Pandya Sends Back Saim Ayub For Golden Duck In 1st Over | Watch | Cricket News

Hardik Pandya got India off to the perfect start in the big India-Pakistan Asia Cup 2025 clash, getting talented young opener Saim Ayub out for a golden duck on the first legal ball of the match.

Pandya started the innings with a wide. He hurled it straight at the middle and leg and made it swirl past Ayub’s pads. The next ball was better directed, and Pandya clocked his wrists in the other direction, making the ball pitch and move away from Ayub. He followed it with a loose drive, and the ball looped off the middle of his bat for an easy catch for Jasprit Bumrah at point.

Watch the wicket here:

This is the second consecutive golden duck for Ayub. He’s one of the most promising talents to come out of Pakistan in this era, but his Asia Cup couldn’t have gone any worse, batting-wise, so far.

He sounded pretty confident in the pre-match press conference, strongly hitting back at all questions of pressure of an India-Pakistan clash, but he couldn’t make his bat talk.

Meanwhile, Pandya became only the second Indian bowler to pick a wicket on the first legitimate ball of the innings after Arshdeep Singh’s wicket of Shayan Jahangir against the USA during the 2024 men’s T20 World Cup. Arshdeep, the highest wicket-taker for India in T20Is, isn’t playing in this game.

Hardik Pandya returns Jasprit Bumrah’s favor

It took only a handful of deliveries for Pandya to return Bumrah’s favor and catch one off his bowling. On the second ball of the second over, Bumrah bowled a heavy ball on a length outside the off-stump, and Mohammad Haris went for the big heave — a wild slog far away from his body — only to get a big top-edge over deep fine. Pandya called for it early and settled under it to grab it with ease.

Bumrah could have had another, an LBW for Fakhar Zaman two balls later, but Pakistan’s review showed that the ball was just pitching outside the leg-stump.

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