Much was expected from all-rounder Hardik Pandya in T20 World Cup 2021 but he disappointed. The right-handed batsman failed to play big knocks in 2 crucial games of the ICC event while with the ball, Pandya went wicketless across 2 innings. He was backed to deliver his full quota of overs in T20 World Cup.
Following his dry run at T20 WC, Pandya has already lost his place in the national team and it remains to be seen if he can make a comeback without bowling regularly.
Amid this, former India skipper Kapil Dev has said that Pandya can’t be called an all-rounder as he isn’t bowling. The WC-winning captain mentioned that Pandya remains an extremely important batsman for Team India.
“He has to do both the jobs to be considered an all-rounder. He is not bowling so can we call him all-rounder? Let him bowl, he has come out from the injury,” Kapil said at the Royal Calcutta Golf Course, as per PTI.
“He is an extremely important batter to the country, for bowling he has to play a lot more matches, perform and bowl and then we will say.”
Pandy has mostly played as a specialist batsman since the resumption of the game. He travelled to Australia as a batsman and made his Test comeback in the home series against England in that role only. He was dropped from the Test side soon and isn’t in the scheme of things in this format.
