After Hardik’s 42 not out guided India to a T20I series win in the second and penultimate contest, at the SCG, Sydney, there have been praises for the 27-year-old all-rounder from all corners. While Michael Vaughan and Gautam Gambhir have lavished praise on him, former Indian opener-turned-commentator Aakash Chopra also made a big claim on him and opined why he is going to be the Men in Blue’s most vital cog going forward.
Chopra said in his latest video posted on his official Facebook page, “Hardik Pandya is fast becoming India’s most valuable player in white-ball cricket. He is going to be more valuable than Kohli, Rohit, Bumrah. If India has to win the World T20, Hardik Pandya could be the one to play the biggest role in that. To start with Hardik Pandya the batsman, India has not won the last few limited-overs World Cups. Our top-order has always been good, Rohit Sharma scored five centuries in one World Cup and Virat Kohli always scores runs.”
He further opined, “But why we don’t win the matches in the end? Earlier there was (MS) Dhoni who used to be left alone. Now with Dhoni having left, there is no one. If you have to win the next World Cup, there is no way you can win it with just Rohit, Rahul and Kohli in the top three. It will not work with that, you need finishing because that is India’s problem in T20 or ODI cricket. We bowl well but get the problem in the finishing with the batting. The strong finishers are not present, it is a different skill which cannot be taught.
The rise we have seen of Hardik Pandya, the way he has grown as a player from the first IPL till now, it seems that he owns the place. In ODI cricket, if there is a collapse batting first then he takes his time, if you send him at the end, he just smashes the sixes,” Chopra added.
“If you talk about the second T20I, in the recent past you would have felt that it is only possible if Dhoni is there but otherwise there is no chance. But this time when Hardik was batting, we were also feeling and he was also feeling that there is no tension and that he will manage,” concluded the former right-hander.
