Former Indian captain Rahul Dravid is on the opinion that One of the reasons why Hardik Pandya was being fast-tracked into the senior team was the paucity of pace-bowling all-rounders in Indian cricket but at the same time he deserves credit for making the most of his rare talent. He said that that having fast bowling all-rounders was always a luxury for the Indian team and Pandya has made full use of the opportunities he has got.
“Hardik came into the team because of himself. He is the one who has put in the performances and he is the one who has that x-factor. When you are a fast bowling all-rounder in India, there aren’t many to compete with and that’s the reality,” Dravid told reporters at the pre-departure press conference for the Under-19 World Cup team.
“If you are a batsman or a spin bowler in the country, it’s tough because there are a lot of people you compete with. But fast bowling all-rounders, you can count on fingers of one hand, how many fast bowling all-rounders are playing in India,” he added.
Since a year, Pandya has become a regular feature in the shorter format of the game. Since making his debut at the beginning of 2016, Pandya has played 32 ODIs and 27 Twenty20 matches and has taken 35 and 23 wickets respectively and already has a test hundred on his name.
