The past few months have witnessed a meteoric rise of Hardik Pandya. Back in 2021, he was under the scanner for his poor fitness and inability of bowling full throttle. A persistent backache had led him out of Team India’s scheme of this until he made an inspirational comeback in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022. He led a newly-introduced team – Gujarat Titans – to its maiden title win and bagged the opportunity to captain India on the tour of Ireland.
Riding on a series of impressive performances, Pandya found himself in the squad for the England tour as well. He made it memorable, by notching up the Player of the Series award in the ODIs as India defeated Jos Buttler & Co 2-1 after capturing the T20Is with the same score line.
Pandya came up with a stunning all-round show to ensure India’s 5-wicket win at Old Trafford on Sunday. After registering his career-best bowling figures of 4/24, he scored a brilliant 55-ball 71 in the chase of 260. He also featured in a 133-run partnership with Rishabh Pant, guiding India home safely.
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Former India opener Wasim Jaffer heaped rich praise on the all-rounder, stating that the Indian team management will be extremely pleased with Pandya’s performance in the white-ball series.
Speaking with ESPNcricinfo, Jaffer suggested that Pandya is an ‘invaluable’ asset for Team India in the limited-overs format.
“Hardik Pandya has been on top of his game since the IPL. The way he has batted, bowled and how he led his side in the IPL, he’s showing a very mature mindset,” Jaffer said.
“We all know Pandya walks into the Indian side if he’s able to bowl. But if he performs this well, he walks into any side pretty easily. It’s invaluable to have him in the side in white-ball cricket. It will be very heartening for Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid to see him play like this,” he added.
The former India opener was delighted to see Pandya and Pant take the onus of the chase after the team lost the likes of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Shikhar in quick succession.
“Rohit will be very, very happy with how Hardik Pandya and Rishabh Pant built that partnership after the side were 72/4. It’s incredible to see these two guys stand up. Pandya has been tremendous with both bat and ball,” Jaffer concluded.
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