India, powered by Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul, posted a daunting total of 210/2 in 20 overs against Afghanistan in a Super 12 group 2 match at the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi, on Tuesday night. After Rohit’s and Rahul’s belligerent hitting, it was Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya‘s quickfire knocks that guided India past the 200-run mark.

After Rohit Sharma was dismissed on 74 off 47 balls, Pant came out in the middle. And after KL Rahul took the long walk back, Hardik Pandya walked out in the middle.

There were no signs of captain Virat Kohli, who was padded up since the very first ball. But why did the right-handed not come out to bat?

India needed pinch hitters up the order.

Rohit and KL Rahul had given the start the Indian team required. They were striking at more than 140. So, when Rohit departed, Pant’s introduction in the middle made sense, keeping in mind the batting prowess the Delhi batsman holds.

The bigger the score, the bigger the margin of probable win is and the NRR betters. The NRR is something that India will be wary of if they want to go further in the tournament – a semis spot.

The same thing happened when KL Rahul departed. Hardik Pandya can damage any bowling unit on a good day.

Virat Kohli shows faith in Hardik Pandya.

Hardik Pandya didn’t fire in the first two matches due to this injury. But with the all-rounder gaining his form back slowly and steadily, Kohli showed faith by pushing up up the batting order. In the last match, Pandya scored 23 off 24 balls and showed promise and intent.

If Pandya gets back to his old self, India will only benefit with big runs on the board and then hope that the bowlers do their job.

Pant, Pandya and their run-scoring affair.

Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya can go boom-boom whenever they want and keep going, not allowing the opposition to settle down. With India needing big runs on the board, Pant and Pandya are the only two batsmen who could score big easily and freely.

Last time, Kohli had said that India weren’t brave enough with bat or ball and this time around, the Indian team answered.

After recording a 66-run victory against Afghanistan, this is what Virat Kohli said of the batting order: “We don’t always decide early to go hard, but we do back ourselves and when we do get going, we know what we can do. Well, yes that is the plan (to keep playing this way) but as I said, sometimes you just give in to the pressure.”