I have always thought that Hardik Pandya is an overrated cricketer and that at best, he wilI be an asset for the Indian team in T20 cricket. I thought that he is in the Indian team only because he is playing for Mumbai Indians in IPL. However, I must confess that I never thought I will be convinced that Hardik Pandya is required for Tests and that he will be ideal batsman at number 6 in Australia.
Problems for the Indian team
Pandya was never part of the Indian Test squad for Australia. He was selected for both ODI as well as T20. The reason for not selecting Pandya for tests was because he will not be able to bowl and in Tests a fifth bowler is very much a necessity in Australia. This will give some rest to the likes of Bumrah & Shami. Though I do agree with this line of thinking, I do believe that this is not entirely solid argument.
First, the Indian team as a whole has not played international cricket for close to 8 months and as such most of the bowlers are well rested. Ofcourse, all of them were involved in the exhibition called IPL but at the most, every bowler would not have bowled more than 150 overs over the last 2 months. Hence, the bowlers are well rested.
Second, the Indian batsmen are currently short of experience, especially once Kohli leaves. Prithvi Shaw, Hanuma Vihari & Agarwal has played less than 10 tests. Shubnam Gill is yet to make his debut. Rahul is an unproven player at the test level. This leaves only Pujara & Rahane as the most experienced for 3 of the 4 tests .The entire series will be decided in that 3 tests.
Third, Shaw has severe problems with anything that is quick or that swings. Vihari though talented is yet to the sort of consistency that displays confidence on a tough tour. Rahul & Gill may also have problems with the short ball.
The reason I am convinced
Pandya though as inexperienced as the others in Test cricket, has lot of confidence in his abilities. He does not have any sort of problem against the short ball. He is an aggressive player and someone with that ability lower down the order will be great for the team. If the Indian top and middle order score lot of runs, Pandya can completely take the game away from the Australians. This is what Gilchrist used to do.
Now that Pandya is not required to bowl, he can concentrate on his batting alone. His innings in the ODI where he was watchful for most part of his innings and later on he played an aggressive brand of cricket is enough to convince me that he has the game for succeed at the test level. I do agree that Test cricket is completely different. Red ball will swing more than the white ball and also the pitches will have a bit more bounce but Pandya is certainly capable of overcoming them.
Michael Clarke’s & Vaughan’s comments about Pandya
Vaughan feels that Pandya is likely to be the next superstar of the game after his performances in the limited overs series.
“MS Dhoni, he had that mantle for many years. Virat Kohli has it now. It’s generally the Indian players that get put onto that pedestal and I think Hardik’s got a chance to be the next superstar.”
This certainly is high praise and it remains to be seen whether Pandya can achieve the heights of Kohli or Dhoni, the fact that Vaughan who is a great thinker of the game feels so, says volumes about Pandya’s improved batting.
On the otherhand, Michael Clarke is surprised that Pandya is not part of the test squad.
Kohli’s reasoning for Pandya not being retained
“We need him to bowl. That’s when he becomes that one guy who brings a lot of balance for us. If you’ve seen our cricket overseas as well, in South Africa and England, we were able to compete for longer periods through Test matches because of the fact that he brought a lot of balance in terms of his bowling. We’ve communicated that to him.”
Kohli wants Pandya to be able to bowl decent volume of spells in Test cricket which is fair enough. However, the current situation calls for Pandya the batsman rather than Pandya the allrounder. The Tests at Adelaide and Brisbane will probably not require a fifth bowler. Adelaide is a day-night game and the ball is expected to move a lot during the twilight hour. Day-night tests at Adelaide have not gone to the fifth day.
This shows the importance of having a sixth batman. Brisbane is known to assist fast bowlers. It is only in Melbourne and Sydney a fifth bowler will be needed but it is not mandatory. Far too long teams have managed to play and win with 4 bowlers even in Melbourne and Sydney. This occasion is not any different. With the pandemic induced break, even the pitches in Melbourne & Sydney may offer assistance to the fast bowlers which means 4 bowlers will be able to do the job for the team.
Conclusion
Pandya is beginning to prove that he is not someone who can only play the spinners well. With his consistency in the short format, he has shown that he can play the fast bowlers too. Instead of worrying about Pandya the bowler, it is better the utilise the services of Pandya the batsman in the current series because the runs from Pandya’s bat may well prove decisive than the overs Pandya is required to bowl. However, Pandya has a young family. He wife has given birth recently and it is ony natural for Pandya to spend sometime with the family. Having said that, Pandya must still be retained unless, Pandya himself is not willing to spend more time in Australia. In this case, he must be allowed to go back home.
Other articles related to the Australian tour can be read here, here, here, here & here.