'Reminded me of Yuvraj, Kaif in Natwest final': Former Pakistan bowler says India youngster will be 'word class player'

The India youngster took centre stage as they sealed 2-1 series win over England.

India managed to beat England by five wickets in what ended up becoming a straightforward win for them at Old Trafford on Sunday. The victory helped them seal a 2-1 series win over England, thus helping them complete a white-ball double over the ODI world champions, having won the preceding T20I series 2-1 as well.

Yuvraj and Kaif's 120-run partnership off 106 balls changed the course of the final in 2002. 

At the centre of India's win was Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya. While Pant scored his first limited overs century and finished unbeaten on 125 off 113 balls, Pandya scored 71 off 55 balls and took four wickets before that during the England innings. The two came together when India were struggling at 72/4 and ended up putting up a partnership of 133 runs off 115 balls, thus taking the match away from England.

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Pant almost finished the match in the 42nd over, hitting five back to back fours off David Willey and then hit the winning runs with another boundary off the first ball of the next over. Former Pakistan spinner Danish Kaneria said that Pant's innings reminded him of what former batters Yuvraj Singh and Mohammed Kaif did in the Natwest Trophy final against England at Lord's in 2002.

"Pant's innings reminded me of Yuvraj and Kaif in the Natwest Trophy final. Even there, the top-order batters were gone in a collapse, the youngsters helped India cross the line," said Kaneria on his Youtube channel.

"Pandya and Pant also similarly put up a crucial partnership. They broke the bowling unit. Pandya is in a great rhythm now, he has worked really hard on his fitness."

Kaneria said that Pant has shown that he will be a “world class player".

“Rishabh Pant played with a lot of maturity, he is going to be a world-class player. There are only a few players who can match him in terms of talent. He can even convert his 100s to 200, that's how big a player he is. He is extremely confident as well. If you have players like Pandya and Pant, targets like these become easier to chase,” he said.