T20 World Cup 2021: Indian Team And Virat Kohli See Game-changer Hardik Pandya as an Asset in Batting

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Clearly Virat Kohli and his deputy Rohit Sharma have full faith in Hardik Pandya's capabilities as a batter alone.

Hardik Pandya continues to enjoy team management's full backing. (AFP Photo)
Hardik Pandya continues to enjoy team management's full backing. (AFP Photo)

Hardik Pandya was far from his bludgeoning ways of batting in India’s brush with Pakistan in the ICC Men’s World Twenty20 at the Dubai International Stadium last Sunday. Sent in to bat at No. 7, where his collection of runs, before going into the crucial match, was a mere 107 in eleven matches, as against 180 at No. 5 from ten matches and 148 at No. 5 from nine matches, the Baroda allrounder known for his clean hitting managed to score eleven runs off eight balls before falling to fast bowler Haris Rauf.

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    After the match it was revealed that he had hurt his right shoulder while dealing with a slow bouncer from India’s chief tormentor in the match, left arm seamer Shaheen Shah Afridi. Till Wednesday there was no official word about the severity of the injury, and it appears that Hardik will be given a long time to recover from the blow. He was sent for scans immediately after the match against Pakistan.

    Hardik, according to skipper Virat Kohli, was being considered as a batter. Kohli revealed at the press conference before the match that Hardik needed more time to bowl at least two overs at some stage of the tournament, and he brings value at No.6 and that he has the ability to take the game away from the opposition just as he had done it against Australia at Sydney in December last year. Hardik had raced to a 22-ball unbeaten 42 with three 4s and two 6s.

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    When the Indian team was announced for the World Cup in mid-September, the chairman of the selection committee Chetan Sharma expressed confidence that Hardik would be fit enough to bowl four overs in each and every match. That did not happen against Pakistan, a clear indicator that his troubling lower back will take some more time to mend. Earlier, during the course of the IPL in the gulf region, the Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma and coach Mahela Jayawardane had said that they would not rush him to bowl medium pacers. Hardik did not bowl a single over. One can surmise this to advice from the Indian team’s medical team.

    It was quite apparent then itself that Kohli would use him as a batter to press for the big shots from overs 16 to 20. What all this meant was the team was inclined to have him in the squad for restricted use, but with the potential for maximum gains.

    Hardik, after his Twenty20 debut against Australia in January 2016, has played 50 matches for an average of 19.04 but with a strike rate of 145.16. And when India won 35 of the 50 he has played, his strike rate soared to 177.48. He did not get to bat in 14 matches though. He also does not have a single half-century in the remaining 21 matches; his highest being the 42 not out in Sydney.

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    So why is Hardik being given the preferred treatment? He is seen as the game changer with the knack to convert shots and scatter the ball to all parts of the field. He has so far scored 495 off 341 balls – with 30 sixes and 29 fours for a strike rate of 145.16. The team management sees merit in picking him over the others. What also weighs in his favour is his display in the IPL over a period of seven seasons in which he has scored at 9.23 an over with 98 sixes and 97 fours. He is second best to Kieron Pollard for Mumbai Indians.

    Once his lower back flared up three years ago, he has struggled to maintain his position in the team as an allrounder. But clearly Kohli and his deputy Rohit Sharma have full faith in Hardik’s capabilities as a batter alone.

    There is every likelihood of him, should he be declared fit, being fielded against New Zealand on October 31 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. The Indian team sees him as an asset in the lower order who can turn a match around in a matter of few balls.

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      Hardik’s entry into the Indian team five years ago was hastened by Rahul Dravid’s good words about the Baroda players ability to play according to the situation as he had done in a match with the India ‘A’ team in Australia. Kohli believes Pandya can deliver the goods in an important tournament like the one happening in the United Arab Emirates.

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