Hardik Pandya was one fire in the ODI series decider against England and slammed 64 run knocks. He hogged the limelight on the back of his smoky knock. Now, Aakash Chopra, the former Indian cricketer has come up with an opinion that Team India can use Hardik Pandya as a specialist batsman instead of an all-rounder.
Hardik Pandya has become an integral part of Team India in the last couple of years. He has done an amazing job with the bat and ball across all the formats. However, now he looks more dangerous post his return after recovering from his injury. The Baroda-born player was simply on fire with the bat in the ODI and T20I series against Australia. And, he did really well in the series decider for his team.
Aakash Chopra Wants Team India To Use Hardik Pandya As A Specialist Batsman
He smashed 64 runs off 44 balls studded with five boundaries and four sixes. He well partnered Rishabh Pant when Team India had lost their top four batsmen early in the 3rd ODI. Hardik played proper strokes and looked in peach form with his willow.
During an interview, Aakash Chopra said that Hardik Pandya can now be used as a specialist batsman in Team India. He added that right-handed should be promoted in the batting order and if the latter gets enough balls then he will surely score a century. As per the Aakash Chopra analyses, Hardik played beautiful cricketing strokes and it was a great sight to watch Indian all-rounder focusing on his batting style.
“Hardik Pandya seems like a proper batsman to me now, honestly. I don’t see him as an all-rounder or finisher at all. If you beat him up the order, he will score a century as well if he gets enough balls. If you see his shots today, nine out of ten times you will see cricketing shots and wherever he tries to hit the ball, he has prepared so well for those shots that his execution is amazingly good,” said Chopra.
“Four wickets had fallen at one time. When KL Rahul got out, it seemed the innings had floundered. The way he batted after that, he has the strength, he updated his batting software when he was injured. He has started playing like a proper batsman,” he said.
The former Indian cricketer was impressed with the fact that Hardik Pandya has worked on his batting stance that has made it very easier for him to take the charge against the bowlers from the word go.
“There is a specific game plan that he will go deep inside the crease against fast bowlers and keep his weight forward despite that so that he is not off-position while playing the shots. He has been consistently scoring runs, whether it is spin or fast bowling, and was actually upset that he got out at the wrong time. If he had kept on playing, 390 was also possible,” concluded Chopra.
