Hardik Pandya’s animated celebration after taking the wicket of Afghanistan’s Azmatullah Omarzai at New Delhi on October 11. Photo: PTI
Hardik Pandya: Versatile all-rounder crucial to India’s World Cup ambitions
For this Indian set-up, Pandya is the most valuable asset, given he can bowl his 10 overs with aplomb and provide the stabilising hand or the final kick at the pivotal No. 6 position
On Wednesday (October 11), Hardik Pandya turned 30. His day began with a surprise, handmade gift from his young son, after which he received birthday wishes from his teammates and the extended family that the Indian cricket team at the World Cup is. Before the Indian team went into a huddle prior to the start of their match against Afghanistan, one of the young kids that was a part of the national anthem ceremony reached out to him to offer his wishes, after which Pandya was embraced in a bear hug by first Rohit Sharma and then Virat Kohli. All was well with Pandya’s world.
The one-time bling king of Indian cricket is a much-mellowed individual, bearing no resemblance to the in-your-face upstart who sought to impress as much with his appearance as his cricketing abilities. The passage of time, a young family, and the responsibility of leadership – he was appointed captain of Gujarat Titans on their IPL debut in 2022, when he led them to the title – have transformed him almost beyond recognition, though Pandya 2.0 remains a fantastic all-round cricketer who can turn matches with bat or ball alone.
On the cricket park, Pandya is often animated, making field changes with skipper Rohit Sharma’s blessings. Like a traffic cop directing the flow of vehicles, he points to this fielder, moves that fielder around a little bit, always in the game. He comes across as a shrewd thinker and a wonderful leader of men, the bling a thing of the past with his focus inwards rather than on what is happening around him.
It was, therefore, a massive surprise to witness his animated celebrations at the dismissal of Azmatullah Omarzai at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi on Wednesday evening. Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that Omarzai and Hashmatullah Shahidi, the Afghanistan skipper, were in the middle of an entertaining 121-run partnership for the fourth wicket on a reasonably hot day. Perhaps, it was just relief that, as Rohit’s deputy, he had played his part in bringing his country back into the contest. Whatever it was, Pandya’s loud, Tarzan-esque scream was a loud statement, an indication of the intense inner fire that he hopes will light India’s path to the World Cup title.
This wasn’t a typical Pandya delivery in that he didn’t bang the ball into the pitch and get it to climb awkwardly at pace. It wasn’t a full-speed length ball that jagged in off the seam, like at the Asia Cup when he cleaned up Babar Azam. It was a slower ball, a sleight of hand that unsettled and defeated a well-set batsman who had already belted four sixes on his way to his highest ODI score. Expecting the ball to grip and turn a fraction, Omarzai played inside the line, only for his off-peg to be disturbed. Pandya’s scream could have been heard as far away as in Vadodara, from where he hails; that it wasn’t a single, isolated scream but part of a sequence that reverberated across the venue spoke to his singular desire to make a lasting impression in a tournament the team is determined to win for multiple reasons.
Engine room of the Indian squad
Pandya is easily the engine room of this squad, the one who ignites the side more than anyone else. Given his all-round versatility, he is well-nigh irreplaceable. No one is indispensable, it goes without saying, but to this Indian set-up, Pandya is the most valuable asset, given he can bowl his ten overs with aplomb and provide either the stabilising hand or the final kick at the pivotal No. 6 position.
Within the Indian ecosystem, Pandya is a rarity in that he bowls more than brisk fast-medium pace and is a fantastic batsman in his own right. India have the luxury of three spinning all-rounders to call upon – Ravindra Jadeja, the injured Axar Patel and R Ashwin – but their quest for an all-rounder in the Kapil Dev mould, someone who is excellent with the ball whilst bowling at a reasonable pace and is more than capable with the bat, hasn’t exactly borne fruit.
India tried out Shivam Dube for a bit and attempted to make an all-rounder out of Vijay Shankar and Venkatesh Iyer with little success, which puts Pandya’s presence in perspective. He provides the team the balance it so desperately requires, allowing it to play a third spinner if the conditions so dictate because he is not just a part-time or a third medium-pacer. Pandya has used the new ball with excellent effect in all formats, including in Test cricket, and seldom has he failed to deliver. His bowling has grown in the last couple of years, an additional couple of yards of pace complemented by an ever-expanding repertoire with the latest addition manifesting itself in the form of the slower off-cutter that accounted for Omarzai.
As a batsman, he can bat according to the situation, breathtakingly aggressive when that is the need of the hour or calmly assured like in the Asia Cup game against Pakistan in Pallekele last month when he strode out at 67 for four. He isn’t just a finisher but a totally rounded willow-wielder, adept at batting with the specialist batsmen and with the lower-order which doesn’t exactly boast impressive credentials.
In all probability, Pandya will be the captain next year when India approach the T20 World Cup in the US and the Caribbean. He has clearly been earmarked for the job and has been leading the side since the end of the last tournament in Australia last year, with more than passable success. But that’s in the future. Pandya’s immediate focus is on this 50-over World Cup, which India haven’t won since 2011; 12 years back, it was Yuvraj Singh with his all-round heroics that drove the Indian campaign. Pandya will have to invoke the spirit of the left-handed all-rounder and reprise the Yuvraj role of 2011 if India are to pull off an encore.
On the evidence of what has been on view in this tournament – keeping in mind that India have only played two games – Pandya has what it takes to fulfil those expectations. Wednesday, when he finished with two for 43 in seven overs when 545 runs were scored in 85 overs, was another sample of the strides he has taken towards making him India’s most influential all-rounder since the legendary Kapil retired in 1994.
