In-form Hardik Pandya gives new strength to India in T20Is ahead of World Cup

Six months ago as Hardik Pandya geared up to lead Gujarat Titans in the Indian Premier League, all eyes were on the all-rounder.
India's Hardik Pandya, left, celebrates taking the wicket of England's Sam Curran with India captain Rohit Sharma during the first T20. (Photo | AP)
India's Hardik Pandya, left, celebrates taking the wicket of England's Sam Curran with India captain Rohit Sharma during the first T20. (Photo | AP)

CHENNAI: Six months ago as Hardik Pandya geared up to lead Gujarat Titans in the Indian Premier League, all eyes were on the all-rounder. Not just to see how he fares as a captain, but more so to see if he could make an impact with the ball.

After all, he has been India’s trump card to the balance in their batting order since his debut in 2016. They had backed him and groomed him from a lower-order batter who can bowl and be a genuine all-around option.

In the last couple of years his constant injuries — Pandya came back for the T20 World Cup, but hardly made an impact meant India had to try other options.

However, as the IPL season progressed, Pandya showed once again what he could offer when he is at his best. He excelled not just as an all-rounder but also as a leader, taking Titans to title in their debut season.
He made his comeback to the Indian team for the South Africa series.

And as he played more, he got better, especially during the Ireland tour. In the first T20I against England, Pandya bowled his full quota of overs for the first time since coming back, and finished with his career-best bowling performance (4/33), coupling up with his maiden T20I half-century (51).

As he became the first Indian to score a fifty and take four wickets in a T20I on Thursday, two things stood out.

For starters, Pandya was bowling at good pace, troubling the England batters with the extra bounce he was able to get from the surface.

Three of the four wickets he took involved his trademark back-of-len­g­th/short deliveries. And he was able to sustain the same th­rough his full quota of overs.

“I was more happy when I tou­ched the 90.5mph mark,” said the allrounder in a video shared by BCCI.tv. “Credit goes to my team (of support staff) as well.

Soham Desai and AI Harrsha (both strength & conditioning coaches) have prepared me well. After the Ireland tour, we did not take any break, we were training continuously for a week.”

With the bat, too, when he walked out to bat India were 89/3 in 8.4 overs. First with Suryakumar Yadav and then with Axar Patel, Pandya ensured India did not lose momentum in the middle overs.

However, most of his boundaries were along the ground (6 4s & 1 6s) something that was unusual of him.

Pandya credited the role he played for Titans largely batting at No 4 in the IPL helping him in adding to his arsenal. He still can go big when wants to, but the allrounder is not overly reliant on hitting sixes to score at a brisk pace.

While what role team management wants him to do in the World Cup is yet to be seen, Thursday, once again, was an example of what an in-form Pandya could bring to the table. And that is something India would not want to miss.

Related Stories

No stories found.
The New Indian Express
www.newindianexpress.com